Newport Center Vote
Will there be more or less traffic congestion in Newport Beach after the Irvine Co. completes the traffic improvements it has agreed to build and completes the residential and resort development along Pelican Hill Road?
The Irvine Co. says less.
Allan Beek says more. Both use as their source the city’s official EIR (environmental impact report).
These are the facts:
The EIR and the city’s traffic consultants have clearly said that the combination of the additional square footage in Newport Center and the traffic improvements paid for by the Irvine Co. will reduce traffic congestion in Newport Beach. What the consultants go on to say in the EIR is that if additional, non-Irvine Co. developments in Corona del Mar and elsewhere occur, then there will be more congestion in Newport despite the reductions resulting from the plan encompassed in Measure A.
In other words, what Beek is saying is turn down the one project that will help because alternative, non-Irvine Co. projects will create more traffic than they solve.
To me, that is not only unfair but counterproductive.
The negotiations the City Council conducted with the Irvine Co. resulted in a plan that benefits both the company and the city.
RAY WATSON
Newport Beach
Ray Watson is a member of the Irvine Co.’s executive committee and its former president.
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