CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

CdMHS Drop-Off Lanes To Be Open By First Day of School

Summertime construction of an overflow parking lot next to an existing Corona del Mar High School pool lot closed some driveways over the past two months, but all lots and lanes will be open by the first day of school on Tuesday, school administrators said.

The new parking lot, with more than 50 new spaces for students and visitors, replaced three tennis courts as part of the Measure F enclave project; read more about that here. Eventually, the enclave and a new theater will be built on campus.

“Our parking lot was the first step,” said Guy Olguin, principal of Corona del Mar Middle School.

Crews began working on the lot the day after school let out for the summer, closing some lanes in and out of the current pool lot while they worked. Work on the new lot is nearly complete except for some minor irrigation and striping work, so all lanes will be open before Tuesday, Olguin said. That means traffic will flow the same as in other years, with two lanes going into the school for student drop-offs, and two lanes for exiting.

Workers next will begin constructing new tennis courts, with that project scheduled for completion by January. Olguin said that the school’s tennis program has not been affected because matches were scheduled around the construction work.

In spite of the driveways being open in time for the first day of school, CdMHS Principal Tim Bryan said the first day always creates a traffic jam, with more than 2,500 students all arriving for the 7:50 a.m. bell.

“If everybody comes at 7:45, it will be a mess,” he said. “We always encourage people to arrive early for the opening of school.”

The school’s police resource officer will be on hand to help direct traffic, he added.