Published November 8, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 8, 2026
If you’ve ever stepped off the boardwalk at 15th Street to let three e-bikes and a surrey with a bachelorette party go by, the city hears you. Officially.
The No. 1 complaint
A 2025 staff report says conflicts between people walking and people biking are the most frequent complaint the city gets about the three-mile Oceanfront Boardwalk, especially between 36th and 14th streets, where Newport Elementary sits. In September 2020 the council asked staff to look at widening the boardwalk or adding a second one.
The plan
The fix rides along with a bathroom. The 15th Street restroom was built in 1961 and remodeled in 1987 and 2001. A 2021 assessment found rotting wood, rusted metal, a failing roof and corroded pipes, and said fixing it would cost several times what the building is worth. The council hired a designer in 2022 to replace it.
Since rebuilding the restroom means rebuilding part of the boardwalk, staff drew up a split boardwalk from 14th to 20th as a first phase. The design shown to the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission in April 2025 adds a 12-foot concrete bike path, separated 20 to 36 feet from the walking path, with plazas at the street ends and curves meant to slow bikes down.
The money and the clock
The city’s 2025-26 capital budget listed the Oceanfront Boardwalk Expansion, 14th to 20th, at $1.5 million. At the June 2025 budget hearing, two residents asked the council to pull it. This year’s budget lists the 15th Street restroom, $1.1 million, as money carried over from last year, and the city’s facilities plan shows construction in 2027. We didn’t find a construction contract for either in the city’s records.
So: six years since the council asked. In that time, e-bikes got faster. The boardwalk didn’t get wider.
Questions for City Hall
- Is the $1.5 million for the split boardwalk still set aside?
- When do the restroom and boardwalk actually go out to bid?
- What happens to the stretch from 20th to 36th, where the complaints start?
Locals don’t need another concept drawing. They need a lane line.
Sources
- Staff report: 15th Street Restroom Renovation and Boardwalk Improvements Concepts, April 1, 2025
- Measure M2 eligibility submittal listing project 25R13, June 10, 2025
- City Council minutes, June 10, 2025 (public comment on 25R13)
- Proposed FY 2026-27 Capital Improvement Program, May 26, 2026
- Facilities Financial Plan, Finance Committee, April 16, 2026
This story is checked every 3 days for its first 30 days. When there’s news, we add a dated update here. How we keep stories current →
Help us out, Newport.
Read next
City Hall WatchSave Balboa Village: 5 Small Business Ideas for Newport Beach City HallFrom the Balboa Island Ferry to 15th Street Surf Shop, Newport's legends are small businesses. Balboa Village is hurting, and City Hall is still "considering" how to help. Here are…Read story →Suggestion 1 of 5
City Hall WatchNewport Beach Shipped Real Sand to Four Empty New York Storefronts. Balboa Has Empty Storefronts Too.Visit Newport Beach turned four vacant Manhattan storefronts into a Newport vacation, real sand and all. Back home, Balboa Village has empty storefronts of its own.Read story →Suggestion 2 of 5
City Hall WatchNewport Beach Rehired Stapleton, Weigand and Kleiman. Balboa’s To-Do List Is Still on the Counter.Same council, four more years. Here's what's still waiting on the Balboa Peninsula, from P, Q and R to $27.4 million.Read story →Suggestion 3 of 5
Around NewportNewport-Mesa High School Students Can Take College Classes for Free This SpringHere's something Newport families might actually want to get ahead of: local high school students can take college classes this spring without paying tuition.Read story →Suggestion 4 of 5
Surf & CoastWest Newport Is Getting $1.5 Million in Trucked-In Sand. The 62nd Street Groin Is Still a 1974 IOU.City Hall voted 5-0 to haul river sand into West Newport. The groin it planned at 62nd Street back in 1974 is still missing.Read story →Suggestion 5 of 5