Laguana Hills : City Delays Vote on Intersection Work

Saying they need more information, the City Council this week delayed voting on the first of three major-intersection improvement projects.

The city plans to reconstruct the intersection of Alicia and Moulton parkways at a cost of $1.66 million, tentatively starting in late summer.

“It’s important we have more time to review the site elevations,” Councilwoman Melody Carruth said. “We want to see what the improvements will look like for our pedestrians.”

The roadways are heavily used by joggers, walkers and bicyclists, particularly along a bike trail that parallels Alicia Parkway.

A representative of the Lomas Laguna Homeowners Assn. asked for more time for the homeowners group to look at renovation plans.

The project will improve traffic circulation at the intersection by creating dual left-turn lanes and exclusive right-turn lanes at the approaches in all directions at Alicia and Moulton parkways.

In addition, the medians on both streets will be landscaped, with most of the work centering on Moulton Parkway.

City engineers plan to install planted median islands on Moulton Parkway, from Via Lomas to Gordon Road.

The landscaping will feature split rails running between a series of stone columns.

“It’s intended to represent a property-line fence you would see in an equestrian neighborhood,” City Engineer Ken Rosenfield said.

Alicia Parkway will be widened to accommodate the extra lanes. The work will cut into slopes on the street, requiring retaining walls at heights from two to five feet high.

Rosenfield said some trees will have to be removed, but each one will be replaced.

The road work is part of the city’s Moulton Smart Street Project, which will expand traffic capacity at two other major intersections in the city: Moulton Parkway and La Paz Road and Moulton and Oso parkways.