Road to open to public by May

The Irvine Co. has till May to finish the necessary work to reopen Pelican Hill Road South to the public, after which drivers could hit construction delays until fall 2008.

The Newport Beach City Council agreed in January to let the company close the southern half of the loop road through September 2006 to build a golf course resort.

When Irvine Co. officials asked to keep it closed until September 2008, residents of nearby subdivisions objected, saying the lengthy closure could leave them trapped in their neighborhoods during an emergency.

Company officials said having the road closed would be safer because it would keep construction traffic and residential traffic separated. Chris Marsh, the Irvine Co.’s vice president of project management, said at the peak of construction as many as 1,500 people could be working at 10 sites on the golf club’s 120 acres.

But the pleas of residents, who collected about 500 signatures on petitions asking to reopen the road, won out. The road must be ready to open in May 2007, the council decided Tuesday in a 5-2 vote, with Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Councilman Dick Nichols dissenting.

“We’re disappointed with the decision,” Irvine Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Hieger said Wednesday. “We still feel that the safest, most sensible thing to do would have been to extend the temporary closure and keep the two types of traffic separate. That said, we will do our best to work under the new conditions.”

The council’s decision will allow the Irvine Co. time to finish a golf cart bridge over the road and to bury utility lines and pipes before opening the road again.

“I believe the council’s decision was fair,” said Pelican Hill resident Richard Demirjian, who helped gather signatures. “There needed to be a reasonable resolution to this problem taking everybody into consideration, so we’re happy justice was done.”

Residents also got a definitive answer to a question that’s nagged at them. They worried that the Irvine Co. someday will move to permanently close the south part of the road or make it a cul-de-sac. Marsh said Tuesday night there are no plans to do that.

But the issue isn’t over yet by a long shot. Some residents think the road could be opened sooner than May, and they’ll be keeping an eye on the Irvine Co. to make sure it meets the conditions the city set for extending the road closure, said Jim McGee, who is on the board of the Pelican Hill homeowners association.

Irvine Co. officials said they’ve followed all the city’s safety recommendations, but residents think some have been ignored.

“The overwhelming feeling in the community is that the Irvine Co. has handled this matter very poorly and has engendered a lot of ill will on the part of the residents, who have spent a lot of money purchasing custom lots and residences from the Irvine Co.,” McGee said.

Hieger said company officials aren’t certain how they’ll manage construction once the road reopens, but measures could include a reduced speed limit, detours and nighttime lighting.

The solution to the road dispute may be a mixed blessing, Councilman Steve Rosansky said.

Once the road opens, residents using it will have to navigate a construction zone, and heavy equipment that’s now confined to the closed road will be driving by their homes.

“Whether they won or lost I’m not sure, but the residents spoke, and we gave them what they were asking for,” Rosansky said.