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Lake Forest staff reports $36 million CIP, dozens of road and park projects underway
Summary
City engineers told the Community Services Commission that 70 capital improvement projects totaling about $36 million are budgeted, with 31 completed since 2023 and multiple street, park and facilities projects in construction, design or pre-construction.
Good evening, commission members. I'm Naz Mokaram, principal civil engineer, for City of Lake Forest. And I'm back here today to provide you with an update on the city's capital improvement program, Naz Mokaram told the Community Services Commission on Feb. 5.
Naz Mokaram said the city currently has 70 CIP projects budgeted with a total budget of $36,000,000. She highlighted recent completions including the Jeronimo and Muirlands arterial slurry seal and a rock-fill median on Lake Forest Drive, both of which received council notices of completion in January. "This project added a finger median on Lake Forest to replace existing delineators," she said, and noted the Lake Forest Regional Traffic Synchronization Project — covering Lake Forest Drive between Laguna Canyon Road and Portola Parkway — is complete after coordinated work with neighboring jurisdictions and Caltrans.
The update summarized that staff completed 13 CIP projects in 2023 and 18 in 2024, for a total of 31 completed projects to date. Projects currently under construction include citywide Zone D asphalt repairs (contractor mobilized two weeks before the meeting), Barker Ranch dog park turf replacement (the park reopened to the public last week), Trabuco Trail rehabilitation (substantially complete) and street resurfacing work on Trabuco Road. Mokaram said several projects are at or approaching notice-of-completion stages, with staff anticipating additional NOCs in March.
Pre-construction and design work was described for multiple park and transportation initiatives. Mokaram said staff awarded the El Toro irrigation conservation project in December and listed forthcoming construction administration and inspection awards targeted for March, with construction advertising planned for April. She also described a design bundle for four projects on El Toro (Geronimo to Trabuco) that staff plan to advertise together for construction.
On recreation facilities and amenities, staff are preparing contracts or bids for the Foothill Ranch box lacrosse rink, synthetic turf replacements at Baker Ranch and Sports Park, Heroes Park lighting upgrades, and pickleball court installations at five parks. Mokaram summarized the planned pickleball scope: conversion of an El Toro Park sand-volleyball court into two pickleball courts; restriping at Pittsburgh Park to add two pickleball courts on existing tennis courts; and restriping basketball courts at Foothill Ranch, Baker Ranch and Borrego Parks to accommodate pickleball.
Commissioners asked for clarifications about surfacing and lane additions at a Bakers/Trabuco intersection project. Mokaram said utility relocations were a major part of the schedule for that widening, noting Southern California Edison completed its relocations and that the city's work will widen the intersection rather than remove travel lanes.
The presentation concluded with staff signaling continuing coordination on multiple projects across construction, design and planning phases. Mokaram closed by saying she was available for questions and that the projects will continue to move through construction and administrative milestones over the coming months.
The commission did not take any formal votes on CIP projects at the Feb. 5 meeting; the update was informational and staff flagged anticipated schedule items for March and April.
