Locals oppose wider street

Deirdre Newman

Some downtown business owners and members of a city transportation

committee are speaking out with renewed vigor in opposition to the

city’s tentative plans to widen Newport Boulevard.

Outside consultants four months ago began studying the

environmental effects that widening the main thoroughfare in and out

of city may have.

In the last week or so, opponents of the widening have began to

speak out, concerned that the public is not aware of the city’s

intention, said transportation committee member Dan Perlmutter, who

owns property on 17th Street. Opponents fear that widening the street

will bring more traffic into the area.

“The entire community should be informed of what the city is

trying to accomplish,” Perlmutter said. “It could adversely affect

the residents, as well as the business people, if [the city] is doing

the things it’s planning on doing.”

The council probably won’t consider whether to move forward on the

final design until February, City Transportation Director Peter

Naghavi said. The environmental consultants just started doing their

study about four months ago and there is nothing to show at this

time, Naghavi said. The city will host an open house on Tuesday to

invite feedback from the public on transportation-related

improvements in the downtown and eastside Costa Mesa areas, he said.

“The [Newport Boulevard] project is not just widening -- it’s also

beautification and making it pedestrian-friendly, as well as moving

traffic a little bit, because as you know, there is a lot of

congestion,” Naghavi said.

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

have been identified as two of the three worst in the county, Mayor

Gary Monahan said. The city is studying adding one northbound lane

between 17th and 19th streets and a southbound lane from 19th Street

to Broadway.

The council first approved studying the widening of Newport

Boulevard in 2001 and secured $700,000 from the county for the study.

It also formed the Downtown and Eastside Transportation Ad Hoc

Committee to review options to improve Newport Boulevard. A few

months later, many residents and business owners spoke out against

the project.

In 2002, the study went to the council again for reconfirmation

because of opposition to the idea, Naghavi said. The committee

proposed postponing the project to pursue other options, and some

council members suggested returning the $700,000. The council

ultimately re-authorized the study and kept the funds.

The ad-hoc committee was charged with working with the city on

developing short- and long-term solutions. Widening Newport Boulevard

is only a short-term solution for the next eight to 10 years, if it

is finally approved, Naghavi said.

Although the city announced that the committee’s preliminary

recommendations would be on display at an open house next week at the

Neighborhood Community Center, the group decided Tuesday to hold off

on making any suggestions because members couldn’t agree on some

significant issues, such as how many lanes there should be on Newport

Boulevard, committee member Tom Egan said.

Instead, the committee will wait to hear the public input and fold

that into its recommendations, Egan said.

Egan, who also opposes the widening, said he doesn’t want to see

the downtown area turn into a freeway.

“Triangle Square is dying because people can’t get to it,” Egan

said. “It’s kind of like the ancient mariner -- dying of dehydration.

In my dark moments, I see all of downtown withering because it’s just

drowning in autos.”

Brett Hemphill, another 17th Street business owner who used to be

on the committee, also opposes the widening. He fears enlarging 19th

Street will adversely affect 17th Street.

“It will probably divert more traffic to 17th Street, and so then,

it builds the case for the city to widen 17th Street, which ruins the

shopping district,” Hemphill said.

In May 2001, the council rejected a plan that had an option to add

two lanes to 17th street at a later date. Opponents feared widening

17th Street would increase traffic, hurt businesses and property

values and benefit Newport Beach residents, who use the street to get

to the Costa Mesa Freeway.

Randy Garell, of the Grant Boys, who is also on the committee said

he still isn’t sure how he feels on the widening issue. So he is

looking forward to hearing from the public at the open house.

“I’ve heard from the members of the committee now for the last two

years -- I know how they feel,” Garell said. “What I’m interested in

hearing from is the other merchants on Newport [Boulevard], who live

and die by the traffic, and from some of the residents who live on

the streets that are fairly close to Newport; because as the

boulevard jams, there becomes more cut-through traffic, and

[residents] don’t want the cut-through traffic.”

Mayor Gary Monahan, who led the charge to keep the $700,000 for

improvements, said widening Newport Boulevard is the last significant

improvement the city can do to ease congestion that doesn’t have any

major negative results.

“The [widening] is to improve the intolerable situation, and it

has very, very little impact on the business owners,” Monahan said.

“The alternatives that Mr. Egan and Mr. Perlmutter are pushing

include a tunnel and an overhead, which would completely destroy our

downtown and put every business out of business and completely

destroy the [surrounding] neighborhoods.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].