Proposal blasted by councilman

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- City Councilman Gary Monahan is sounding off on a

proposal to return $700,000 for improvements to Newport Boulevard,

calling it the worst idea he has seen in all his years on the council.

Council members tonight will consider scrapping a plan to widen

Newport Boulevard and return the design funding to the Orange County

Department of Transportation. It’s a move that Monahan calls ridiculous

at best.

“To refuse the grant is ludicrous. If we give this money back, we will

just be stuck with the traffic we have,” Monahan said Friday.

The intersections of Newport Boulevard at 17th and 19th streets have

been identified as some of the worst in the county, Monahan said. Heavy

congestion through that area has caused drivers to cut through the

Eastside residential area instead.

Costa Mesa officials have sought solutions to the downtown traffic

problems for more than 17 years, but as the years go by, the problem just

gets worse.

The California Department of Transportation owns and operates Newport

Boulevard and its previous plans called for an extension of the Costa

Mesa Freeway, which would demolish 85 Eastside homes and 40 businesses.

City traffic engineers worked with transportation authorities and

agreed on a compromise. The new plan called for an additional lane for

sections of Newport Boulevard traveling northbound from 17th Street to

19th Street and a southbound portion from Broadway to 19th.

In August, the City Council approved the recommendation and formed a

committee to review options for improvements to Newport Boulevard. Costa

Mesa officials also secured $700,000 from the Orange County

Transportation Authority for the design of the widening project.

Dixon previously said she wanted to ensure the community was included

and informed about the proposed changes to Newport Boulevard before

anything was approved.

“I just have a real problem going through with this before we’ve gone

to the community with it,” Dixon said back in August.

Dixon was not available for comment.

The committee -- mostly made up of Eastside residents and downtown

business owners -- reviewed data for the past six months and recommended

postponing the proposed project. According to a staff report, members of

the committee suggest the city pursue other improvement options for

Newport Boulevard and try for other grants.

The report indicates a willingness from traffic engineers to apply for

other grant funding but states “there is no guarantee that such funding

opportunities will become available at the time needed.”

Monahan criticized the committee’s recommendation, saying returning

the money would hinder future bids for funding. Especially after the city

returned a sizable amount of funding when it scrapped plans to expand

17th Street -- an unrelated project.

“If we return the money again, we will never be able to compete for

improvement funds,” Monahan said. “If the committee doesn’t understand

the ramifications, they shouldn’t make ridiculous recommendations.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

FYI

WHAT: Costa Mesa City Council Meeting

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. today

WHERE: City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

INFORMATION: (714) 754-5225