The OC Public Works department has begun work on the Lower Santa Ana River Sand Management project. The project involves removing up to 840,000 cubic yards of accumulated sand in the lowest 3.5 miles of the Santa Ana River to maintain design flood protection. Beach compatible sand will be taken to various beaches within Orange County for beach nourishment. This is a reoccurring maintenance project that was last done by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2004/05.

This current maintenance effort began late August/early September this year and will take about six months to complete. As part of the 2004/05 maintenance work and this current work, the county’s contractor needs to close off the east bike path between PCH and Victoria/Hamilton bridge to the public because the contractor will be using this reach of the bike path for access to adjacent staging areas and access to equipment within the river. The west side bike path/trail will remain open. The contractor will prepare and implement a bike/pedestrian detour plan.

A bike detour plan sign will be installed at various locations along the Santa Ana River east levee. The metal sign will be installed at both ends of the closure and three locations upstream for advance notification to trail users. The county will post this detour map on the OC Parks website and OC Public Works website to inform the public of the upcoming closure. This sign is in addition to the DETOUR and TRAIL CLOSURE signs installed at both ends of the closure.