Laguna Beach Village Entrance

Laguna Beach, California

More than six million people visit Laguna Beach annually, many entering the area through the project site via State Route 133, Laguna Canyon Road. Visitors used to pass a decaying sewer digester building, unsightly storage areas, and a plain, poorly lit, paved surface parking lot before entering the village, in sharp contrast to the beautiful architecture and landscaping at the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters located directly across the street.

Michael Baker International provided community outreach, planning, engineering, landscape architecture, and support services to Laguna Beach’s Public Works Department to beautify this highly visible area. Extensive public outreach and a community-driven design process ensured that the community’s vision was realized as concepts evolved from plans, through design to construction.

The final design was influenced by the unique Laguna Beach Village and Canyon character and significantly improved the overall aesthetics and functionality of the area by providing new walkways and trails separated from the traffic on Laguna Canyon Road, seating areas for social interaction, bicycle parking to encourage multi-modal transportation, and electric vehicle charging stations. The project team also optimized the number of parking stalls in oddly shaped parking lots and designed one lot entirely with permeable pavers for water quality treatment. Extensive low water use landscape, hardscape, and water conservation irrigation improvements complemented decorative elements such as corrugated metal walls, fencing, and bike racks throughout the low-impact development site. This safe, environmental sensitive, and picturesque project was delivered on time and within budget.