Road, freeway construction coincides with fair opening

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- The repaving of Fairview Road, which could have delayed

fairgoers from petting prized pigs and tasting pickled peppers, will be

finished before the Orange County Fair opens July 14, city officials said

Wednesday.

“We’ll be working tonight and tomorrow to make sure this is out of the

way,” said Larry Arruda, who is overseeing the construction.

The city began the $3.6-million project in February. Road crews have

channeled traffic on the six-lane road into four and five lanes, causing

occasional bottlenecks and backups.

Arruda said the underground sensors that trigger street lights will

not be in place by the fair’s opening day. He said he expected police to

help direct traffic near the fair.

But while the pylons and tractors will be gone from Fairview Road next

week, night construction on the San Diego Freeway may cause delays coming

and going to the fair, said Peter Naghavi, the city’s transportation

director.

Naghavi is scheduled to meet with officials from the California

Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the project, to

discuss whether the eight weekends of construction will slow fair

traffic. At times, the roadwork just north of the Harbor Boulevard exit

will narrow the freeway to one northbound lane.

“I think there will be some impact, I’m just not sure how much,”

Naghavi said.

Construction crews will work from 9 p.m. Fridays to 9 a.m. Saturdays,

and from 9 p.m. Saturdays to 10 a.m. Sundays. Fair officials said earlier

they didn’t anticipate that construction would cause major delays, but a

Caltrans spokeswoman recommended drivers find a different route to the

fair.