The Concrete Dividing Line: It’s Not a Pretty Sight

If it is indeed Orange County’s Mason-Dixon line, the Costa Mesa Freeway is largely unimpressive.

For one thing, it is lined primarily by industrial developments and concrete-block walls because the constant traffic and emissions--not to mention the noise from grinding gears and rubber on asphalt--do not make it an attractive neighbor.

What’s more, it can be a confusing line to separate the diagonally contoured county into north and south.

The boundary gets off to a pretty start as Newport Boulevard in Newport Beach, beginning at 30th Street and passing by trendy restaurants, surf shops, boutiques, the rear of expensive homes, City Hall and even a fast-food joint or two as it heads north.

And then comes its most picturesque moment. Look quickly, or you might miss the postcard-like scene as Newport Boulevard passes over a bridge crossing Lido Channel. It offers a glimpse of graceful boats bobbing in their docks while other vessels, from canoes to powerboats, slice lazily through the blue water below.

The picturesque scene quickly fades into memory as Newport Boulevard passes into Costa Mesa, past newly prettified shops in the redevelopment area. And then it abruptly offers a less-than-scenic view--”the pit,” as some call the massive hole of raw dirt in the middle of the divided boulevard that will become an extension of the Costa Mesa Freeway.

The freeway actually begins a few more stoplights after that. Industrial and office buildings whiz past as the thoroughfare touches on the edges of Irvine and Tustin on the right and Santa Ana on the left.

As it nears and then passes through Orange, the freeway is lined on both sides with concrete-block walls and eucalyptus trees shielding the back of apartment complexes and houses. A few stores and restaurants appear before the freeway--for virtually the first time--abandons its straight-arrow course and ends with a curve that dumps the lanes into the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim.