Businesses trudge through

Andrew Edwards

It’s business as unusual in Downtown Laguna Beach. Sidewalks are torn

up, work crews are busy daily and signs with warnings like “open

trench” line sidewalks.

Until the Downtown rehabilitation project is completed -- work on

streets and sidewalks is scheduled to be over by June -- heavy

equipment and bright orange warning signs will be a part of Downtown

life, and a source of frustration for Laguna merchants.

City planners realize shopkeepers are hindered by the repairs,

which were designed to improve Downtown streets in the long run.

“The general consensus I hear is they’re frustrated with the

construction project but they understand construction is a necessary

evil,” Project Manager Derek Wieske said.

The project is necessary “in order to improve the Downtown

infrastructure,” Wieske said.

The problems? Merchants said work on sidewalks makes it hard for

customers to get into their shops, while street repairs snarl traffic

and reduce precious parking spaces.

“Look at the front of the store, you can’t even get in from the

side,” said Amii Shank, owner of the Little Bohemian clothing store

on the corner of Beach and Ocean streets.

“The traffic is bumper to bumper,” she added.

The sidewalk in front of Little Bohemian is in the midst of

reconstruction and off limits to passersby when Shank was

interviewed.

The concrete on a stretch of sidewalk that turns the corner around

Shank’s store has been removed as workers revamp the intersection to

construct what Wieske called a “bulbout.”

The bulbout is designed to improve safety by discouraging drivers

from turning the wrong way onto Ocean Avenue, a one-way street, by

extending the sidewalk out into the roadway, Wieske said.

Similar projects are under construction at the intersections of

Forest and Ocean avenues and Glenneyre Street and Forest Avenue.

Bulbouts can also enhance safety by shortening the distance it

takes for pedestrians to cross the street, Wieske said.

But as construction continues, business owners have noticed fewer

customers have visited their shops.

“The money’s not coming in. People can’t come in the store,” said

Tanya Clausen, owner of Washbrooks for Health, which is located

across the street from Little Bohemian.

At Video Laguna, at the corner of Forest and Ocean avenues, where

bulbout construction has also created a temporary loss of sidewalk,

business is also down, owner Paul Shoaii said.

Sales have dropped 10 to 15%, Shoaii said.

Street and sidewalk repairs are being performed concurrently with

work to install underground utility lines Downtown, and the removal

of utility poles Downtown is anticipated for next fall, Wieske said.

No Downtown work is planned during the summer, he said.