CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Marguerite Turn Signal Installation Delayed Until Fall

Plans to add a dedicated left-turn signal from Marguerite Avenue onto East Coast Highway have been delayed until fall, city officials confirmed this week.

“It got too tight for comfort,” said Brad Sommers, a Newport Beach senior civil engineer. “Any little hiccup, and we’d be into summer.”

Currently, there are left-turn signals for motorists on East Coast Highway turning onto Marguerite Avenue but not for motorists on Marguerite, who must yield to Coast Highway traffic. The project will include a countdown signal for pedestrians. Originally, city officials said they hoped to have the project complete before this summer.

Getting parts for the project could take up to 12 weeks, Sommers said, and the project itself is complicated and could close parts of East Coast Highway during construction.

“Traffic delays are possible, and we don’t want that during the summer season,” he said.

The project will go out for bid after City Council approval in a few months.

Corona del Mar will have more pedestrian countdown lights added at intersections from Poppy to Avocado avenue during the next few months, he said, as part of a separate improvement project.

Read our earlier story here.