Repairs on highway

The northbound lanes of Coast Highway, south of El Morro Elementary School in Laguna Beach, were closed for about six hours Tuesday as a road crew worked to stabilize a slope above the highway, which had fractured through erosion, according to Caltrans officials. The lanes were reopened at 3 p.m. but the No. 2 northbound lane was closed again on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., to allow workers to remove embankment material, according to Gloria Roberts, a spokeswoman for Caltrans’ District 12 office in Irvine.

Caltrans announced that a longer-term emergency repair project will begin Nov. 29 to fix a second unstable stretch of Coast Highway between Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar. Emergency road repairs will begin then on an embankment along the highway’s southbound side at Crystal Cove State Park, which has deteriorated through storm water runoff, officials said.

Caltrans will build a pair of earth-retaining structures to protect and stabilize that embankment. The project is expected to continue through spring 2012, Newport Beach officials said. Work on that project would be performed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Friday.