COSTA MESA : Wieder Proposes Bridge Compromise

Confronted by about 200 angry protesters, Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder announced Monday at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting that she would ask the Board of Supervisors to table a controversial plan to put bridges over the Santa Ana River.

The announcement caused both cheers and skepticism from the demonstrators who carried signs that read “Save Our Neighborhood” and chanted outside the council chambers.

Wieder told the crowd that she would ask the board to remove the two crossings from the county master plan of highways only after the affected cities come up with an alternative approach to ease traffic congestion in the area.

Until then, the bridges at 19th Street and Banning Avenue and Gisler and Garfield avenues will remain on the books, she said.

For many of the protesters who have been fighting the county for years to have the bridges taken off the highway plan, the promise was not good enough.

“No action is not going to cut it,” said Mayor Sandra L. Genis after Wieder’s announcement. “We need to work for the deletion.”

After the debate, the council unanimously approved a resolution that urged the county to remove the bridges from the roadway plan and also directed employees to begin talks with the other cities to find another solution to the traffic woes.

This latest development comes after months of study and meetings among county officials, city employees and residents from Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.

During the meeting Monday, officials from the County Environmental Management Agency presented arguments using traffic analyses and other studies that showed that the bridges were not only necessary, but are also the cheapest way to improve traffic flow.

Costa Mesa officials countered with their own traffic analysis and studies that showed that the bridges were not necessary and more expensive than other alternatives, such as widening Pacific Coast Highway.

Regardless of the figures, residents were unanimous in their opposition. The bridges would increase crime, lower property values and ruin neighborhoods, they argued.

As this debate was taking place in Costa Mesa, in Newport Beach on Monday, City Engineer Don Webb told the City Council during a study session that the county’s plan to build a bridge at 19th Street would ease traffic flow on Coast Highway. In addition, a 19th Street bridge would probably not increase traffic flow along Dover Drive, Webb said, citing traffic studies conducted by the county.

The Newport Beach City Council took no action Monday and is scheduled to revisit this issue at its next study session Nov. 8.

Mayors and representatives of the four cities are expected to meet today in Costa Mesa to continue discussions on the roadway issue. The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the fifth-floor conference room at Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.