Costa Mesa on road to repair

Costa Mesa residents will receive myriad road improvements from their city officials this holiday season, with more than $8 million in repaving and sidewalk projects scheduled to run through October of next year.

Thirteen roads are slated for rehabilitation under the project — three to four times the typical size of the city’s annual repaving initiatives.

The work was made possible by a Arterial Highway Financing Program grant covering 28% to 32% of the project’s costs, Costa Mesa Transportation Manager Peter Naghavi said.

“We were very successful in receiving grant funding,” he said. “The rest will be matched by the city’s gas tax money.”

The City Council also approved about $347,000 in city-wide sidewalk improvements aimed at reducing the danger caused by sprouting tree roots or other hazards on the city’s walkway.

“We’ll be looking at anywhere in the city where sidewalks are bad or need to be brought into compliance with [the Americans with Disabilities Act],” Naghavi said. “Basically, we’re looking at a bunch of little projects.”

“This way,” City Manager Allan Roeder said, “we’ll have a finished project on either side of the street.”

Construction will be staggered to mitigate the project’s effects on traffic, engineers said. Roads leading to the beach will be finished before the summer, while South Coast Drive construction will begin after the holiday season.

“What we need to do is take advantage of when schools are out and the breaks between holiday shopping seasons,” senior engineer Thomas Banks said.

The project’s extraordinary size was not the result of any larger-than-usual problems — just the availability of grant money, Naghavi said.

Roads are typically repaved every 20 years in Costa Mesa, Banks said.

SCHEDULED STREET WORK

 17th Street from Santa Ana Road to Irvine Avenue – November to December 2007

 19th Street from Santa Ana Road to Irvine Avenue – January to April 2008

 19th Street from Placentia Avenue to Parkcrest Drive – January to April 2008

 Fair Drive from Fairview Road to Harbor Boulevard – November to January 2008

 Gisler Avenue from Harbor Boulevard to Minnesota Avenue – December to February 2008

 Superior Avenue from 17th Street to Southerly City Limits – February to June 2008

 Harbor Boulevard from Newport Boulevard to Wilson Street – July to October 2008

 Baker Street from east of Fairview Road to Bear Street – July to October 2008

 South Coast Drive from west of Harbor Boulevard to Hyland Avenue – February to July 2008

 Hyland Avenue from MacArthur Boulevard to South Coast Drive – February to July 2008

 Sunflower Avenue from Harbor Boulevard to west of Hyland Avenue – January 2008 to July 2008

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.