Here are some items the council will...

Here are some items the council will consider tonight:

RIDGE PARK

ROAD CROSSING

City and school officials have taken various measures to solve

ongoing concerns about safety and traffic at Newport Coast Elementary

School. The traffic signal at Ridge Park Road and Newport Coast Drive

was retimed, and the city and school district partnered to build a

costly access road to ease traffic congestion.

Now parents are parking in a private lot across the street from

the school and walking their children across Ridge Park Road, and the

city is worried about their safety because of high-speed traffic. The

council will decide whether to restrict pedestrian crossings within

100 feet in either direction of the school’s driveway.

WHAT TO EXPECT

City staff members are recommending the restriction. The council

has been concerned about traffic safety around the school, so council

members are likely to approve the item.

CITY FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS

Employees who do welding repairs to city equipment and vehicles

will no longer have to work outdoors, if the council approves a

$394,740 contract for construction of a building to enclose welders

and their equipment. The building also would house a 75-ton crane the

city may purchase in the next fiscal year.

The cost of the proposed construction contract with Horizons CCI

Services Inc. is 52% above an architect’s estimate for the project,

but the difference is attributed to the high cost of building

materials. The project was bid competitively.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The item is on the consent calendar, which generally includes

routine actions, but the council may look more closely at the project

because it require spending some reserve funds.

JAMBOREE

ROAD WIDENING

One southbound lane will be added to Jamboree Road where it

crosses the Corona del Mar Freeway and it will get a northbound lane

at Bristol Street, if the council agrees to hire an engineering firm

for the project design. A $923,483 contract with RBF Consulting is

proposed.

Construction of the new lanes was estimated at $4.25 million in

2002, with some of the funding expected to come from the Orange

County Transportation Authority and possibly from the San Joaquin

Hills Toll Road’s governing agency.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The contract is being recommended by city staff members.