$1.5-million Newport and Balboa pier maintenance OK’d

Newport Beach will spend about $1.5 million this year on routine maintenance of the Newport and Balboa piers.

A unanimous City Council decided Tuesday night to award a $1.2-million contract to previous pier construction partner John S. Meek Co. of Gardena and set aside about $286,000 for contingencies and consultant services.

The city inspects and repairs the timber support structures below the two piers every other year. The next round of work, expected to begin this winter, will involve installing new wrapping on 88 pilings, replacing rusted and broken straps, bolts, plates and hangers and treating the timber.

The heavily visited piers are continually impacted by waves, tides and the generally corrosive marine environment.

“I kind of think of it as it’s an old classic car and it requires maintenance,” said Mark Vukojevic, Newport Beach’s deputy public works director and city engineer. “But here’s the difference — a lot of old classic cars sit in the garage and you don’t drive them. Our piers are used every single day.”

The Balboa Pier was built in 1906. The Newport Pier was rebuilt in 1940. Both underwent extensive rehabilitation and concrete deck replacement in 2002.

City staff recommended that the contingency funding be used for work such as emergency repairs needed last week after high surf damaged pilings at the end of the Balboa Pier and on any issues that might arise in the coming winter.

Crosswalk renovations

Crosswalks on the Balboa Peninsula will get a refresh next year.

The peninsula’s 38 crosswalks that don’t have traffic lights will be repainted with thick white stripes, replacing the thinner, lower-visibility diagonal hatching currently painted on the pavement. Most intersections also will get pedestrian caution signs. The city will begin work on the additions in the spring.

Changes planned for next fiscal year include “bulb-out” curb extensions, street lights and added crosswalks at various points along Balboa and Newport boulevards at 26th and 28th streets, plus enhanced signage and lighting near Newport Elementary School.

The planned upgrades follow a study of crosswalk safety on the tourist-heavy peninsula. The study, conducted in August 2016 and January 2017, covered Balboa Boulevard between 44th Street and where Balboa becomes Channel Road in the Peninsula Point neighborhood. It also covered Newport Boulevard between 23rd and 28th streets.

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