Council OKs Bridge to Unite South Coast Plaza

Changing the face of one of Orange County’s most popular retail areas, a 600-foot bridge will link the two sections of South Coast Plaza, probably in time for this year’s holiday shopping season.

“It will be a landmark,” Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said of the pedestrian walkway that was approved unanimously by the City Council Monday night.

Crystal Court opened in 1986 as an extension of South Coast Plaza but failed to live up to sales projections. The bridge will enable shoppers to visit both sections of the mall without having to drive or walk across the street. Also, Roeder said, “it will benefit the community by improving safety and allowing us to improve traffic circulation.”

The span, to be sculpted of polished metal, will stretch from South Coast Plaza’s second level on the westside near Macy’s, over Bear Street and a parking structure to the third floor of the former Crystal Court, which will no longer use a separate name.