Countywide : Supervisors Back Off on Plan for Bridges

Orange County supervisors Tuesday ordered an environmental study to determine whether plans for two bridges over the Santa Ana River should be shelved in favor of other local road improvements.

The action was seen as tantamount to victory for bridge opponents in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach who have long argued that the spans would disrupt local neighborhoods with more traffic and force a decline in property values.

The planned bridges that would link Garfield Avenue in Huntington Beach to Gisler Avenue in Costa Mesa and 19th Street in Costa Mesa to Banning Avenue in Huntington Beach have been included in the county’s master plan since 1956. The study is required before the county can scrap the project from its master plan.

County officials have estimated that it would cost $29.4 million to build the bridges, but $48.3 million to alleviate traffic congestion in other ways.

“I have concluded that the public concerns surrounding these proposed bridges far outweigh any benefits that would be achieved by their construction,” said Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, whose county district includes the cities of Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. “Throughout my deliberations on this issue, it has become clear to me that we must find alternative solutions which do not disrupt entire neighborhoods.”

As part of the board decision, the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Fountain Valley would participate in an analysis of traffic needs in the area. Fountain Valley and Newport Beach would be included because the cities border two of the streets that approach the proposed bridges.

More than a dozen bridge opponents, some wearing anti-bridge buttons, waited in the board chamber for more than an hour to urge their position in statements to the supervisors.

“Please allow our local city government to plan for local transportation and neighborhood quality of life within our city,” said Robert D. Hoffman of Costa Mesa. “The bridges . . . neither benefit nor impact regional transportation within Orange County, and as such, should be deleted from the county’s master plan.”

Peter Tarr of Newport Beach, however, said the bridges were needed to allow residents easier access to shopping and other businesses.