Public works director details $36 million, 70-project CIP; 11 projects in construction

Tom Wheeler, Lake Forest City public works director, told the Planning Commission on Feb. 6, 2025, that the city’s two-year capital improvement program (CIP) contains about 70 projects with a total budget of roughly $36,000,000 and that roughly 30 projects have been completed so far.

Why this matters: the CIP funds street, drainage and park work across the city; several traffic and pedestrian-safety projects are already in construction or close to bidding, and one corridor project relied on outside grant money to reduce travel times.

Wheeler said the city completed seven CIP projects and one operational project since the last quarterly update, and that the two-year CIP has invested about $17,500,000 back into the program over the last two years. He listed recent completions including slurry sealing on Geronimo (Jeronimo) and Maryland arterials, restriping near the intermediate school on Serrano, replacement of raised delineators on Rockfield near a Shell station, paving of the trail and roadway along Trabuco Road and a traffic-signal synchronization project on Lake Forest Drive.

On the Lake Forest Drive synchronization project, Wheeler said the city used matching grants from the Orange County Transportation Authority and spent about $300,000. "We've finished the traffic synchronization project along Lake Forest Drive," he said, and reported average travel-time decreases that varied by time of day (up to a 19% reduction reported in some periods), an up to 39% reduction in the number of stops, delays down up to 31% and average speeds increasing roughly 24%.

Wheeler told commissioners that about 31 projects are currently in the CIP pipeline (numbers varied through his presentation) and that 11 projects are under construction, 11 are in pre-construction, 10 are in design and seven are awaiting approval or ready to begin. Projects now under construction include zone D asphalt repairs and coordination with Cityside, a private fiber-optic company, which will trench for fiber where staff has recently repaired or repaved streets; Wheeler said the city is trying to coordinate schedules so slurry seals follow the private work.

He described several near-term traffic-improvement projects: adding a right-turn lane on Geronimo (Jeronimo) at Lake Forest, widening on Rancho Parkway to add a right-turn lane onto Lake Forest Drive, and restriping on Rockfield and Los Alisos Boulevard to create an additional right-turn lane where needed. Wheeler said the city recently awarded a contract to widen Baker Parkway and Trabuco (contract awarded at a Feb. 4 council meeting, per Wheeler), which includes dual left-turn lanes on Baker Parkway and an added through lane approaching Irvine; he said signal poles and other materials will take several months to procure.

Wheeler also described larger roadway work on Jeronimo Road near El Toro, including realignment, raised medians and resurfacing from Geronimo (Jeronimo) up to Trabuco Road; he said the city is in court to acquire limited right of way to complete that widening and hoped to advertise the project for construction in April after selecting an inspection firm in March. Utility relocation with Southern California Edison was described as already underway for some projects and Wheeler said companies such as Cox and AT&T still have cables on older wooden poles that will be undergrounded as part of future construction before poles are removed.

Park and recreation projects mentioned included Barker Ranch Dog Park (new synthetic turf and repainting), Pittsford Park shade structure renovation, replacement of one hockey rink with a box-lacrosse-style indoor surface at Foothill Ranch Park, replacement of two synthetic turf fields at Lake Forest Sports Park, conversion of sand-volleyball courts to two pickleball courts at El Toro Park, and restriping of tennis and basketball courts at several parks to accommodate pickleball. Wheeler said the city is also evaluating aesthetic and pavement enhancements along six Rockfield intersections and performing predesign work for a number of drainage repairs and park outreach efforts (Peachwood Park and Nature Park were mentioned).

Commissioners asked about use of artificial turf, coordination with utility companies (Edison), grant funding for drought-tolerant landscaping and the timeline for replacing street-name signs; Wheeler said the drought-tolerant landscaping project on El Toro Road is funded through regional grants (he cited the Metropolitan Water District as the likely grant source), that Edison has signed an agreement for property acquisition needed on one project and that material and paving costs have risen sharply since 2020 (he cited increases of 40% to 70% on some bid items). On integrating artificial intelligence into traffic systems, Wheeler said the technology is advancing but that fully automated signal control is still "years" away and remains costly.

Wheeler closed by summarizing the program balance: roughly 30 of 70 projects complete, 11 in construction, 11 in pre-construction, 10 in design and seven ready to begin, and invited commissioner questions.

Ending: Commissioners thanked Wheeler for the update and raised several location-specific requests they asked staff to follow up on, including safety at the Portola and Rancho intersection and ongoing signage and utility coordination. Wheeler said staff will return with more information on schedule and funding as projects advance.