Road work ahead

The just-started work on West Coast Highway is jamming up traffic, and it’ll get worse before it improves, but officials hope it will all be done in a couple of months.

On the first morning of the resurfacing, long lines of cars idled in the eastbound lanes from Superior Avenue to Dover Drive.

But the repaving project is badly needed, city officials said.

“This is just a short-term quickie to resurface the road,” said Glenda Dobbins, a Caltrans spokeswoman. “When the roads get old, they get potholes, which cause tire damage.”

The eastbound left lane is blocked off from Newport Boulevard to Dover Drive. During construction hours — from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday — it can take up to 20 minutes to drive the roughly half-mile stretch.

Some of the local business owners say they can already see a slight impact on business.

“Especially for lunch, yes, it did affect it in the negative,” Joe’s Crab Shack Manager Jabier Villalobos said. “We had it a little slower, but not to the point where you go, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

Not many businesses are open in the area, and there’s a long line of unadorned glass shop fronts.

Many of the buildings on the portion of West Coast Highway between Tustin Avenue and Dover Drive have been vacant for months.

Left-turn lanes onto Riverside and Tustin avenues are blocked, and a barricade of traffic cones makes it difficult to make left turns anywhere along the road. There are a few gaps in the barrier so that people can access some of the local businesses that are still open.

Tustin Avenue and West Coast Highway is one of the most heavily affected areas.

Workers with jackhammers are drilling out the concrete, and a short segment of the street was inaccessible on Wednesday.

The westbound lanes were much less congested, and traffic moved freely.

The construction is not slated to be completed until mid-May, and a Caltrans spokesman said the traffic will get worse before it gets better.

According to the spokesman, traffic will be worst from April 10 to 15, when the actual paving is scheduled to take place.

Still, Caltrans wants to have the project finished before summer brings a rush of coastal traffic.

“The completion date is scheduled for before the Memorial Day Holiday,” Dobbins said.

Caltrans hasn’t published any detours because only select traffic lanes will be closed, never the entire road.

The eight-week project will cost the city $540,000, according to Caltrans.

For current traffic conditions visit the Caltrans website at www.dot.ca.gov or call toll-free (800) 427-7623.

POSSIBLE DETOURS

Avoid traveling east on the highway, and it might save you 15 minutes or more.

Detour from Northwest: If coming from Huntington Beach on West Coast Highway, turn left onto Superior Avenue, then right on 17th Street and follow it as it becomes Westcliff Drive. Turn right onto Dover Drive and take it back down to West Coast Highway.

Detour from North: If coming from the north, take Highway 73 to Jamboree, turn right onto Jamboree and follow it until it hits West Coast Highway.

More information: Call the California Department of Transportation at 1-800-427-7623 or visit its website at www.dot.ca.gov for the latest updates.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.