IRVINE : Council Will Weigh 2nd Bridge Initiative

The City Council tonight will review a proposal to place a second initiative on the June ballot involving two pedestrian bridges on Yale Avenue.

The ballot measure, proposed by Councilman Cameron Cosgrove and supported by Mayor Larry Agran, is called the Neighborhood Preservation Plan. It would prevent the expansion of two pedestrian bridges over Yale.

“This would offer a full range of alternatives for the voters, allowing them to delete the bridges altogether and protect their neighborhoods,” said Agran. “Beyond that, it would require this City Council and others to safeguard neighborhoods from commuter traffic (and) pollution.”

The proposal is meant to counter a June ballot initiative sponsored by a residents’ group. That plan, named the Yale Initiative, would allow two to four lanes to be constructed on each of the bridges, opening them to vehicular traffic.

The residents’ group last month presented the council with enough signatures to place their initiative on the ballot.

Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan, a supporter of the Yale Initiative, said approval of the new proposal tonight would amount to “opening up a big can of worms.”

Agran “couldn’t just let the voters decide on this issue and had to throw in something to confuse them,” she said.