Mailbag: Intersection needs traffic lights, not calming measures

I have lived on the west side of Costa Mesa near the intersection of 19th Street and Monrovia Avenue since I was 3 years old.

I am now 44 and can assure people that the traffic problems there cannot be solved with something as unsafe as a roundabout, aka a “traffic circle.”

The problems can only be solved with traffic lights, including lights to tell a person when it’s safe to cross.

The problems have always been people going when it’s not their turn.

Be it bike riders not even coming to a complete stop but rolling diagonally through the intersection when cars are already partway through the same (and these are parents with children that do this, you’d think they’d know better), people doing a slow-and-go right turn when someone is already three-quarters through their legal left-hand turn, others doing a slow-and-go straight crossing when someone is walking or another car that has come to a complete stop has entered the intersection.

A roundabout will only increase these problems and cause accidents.

No one in this neighborhood who has actually lived here more than two years wants a roundabout. We’ve always wanted stop lights. This is the only sane and practical solution.

The roundabout is an unsafe, impractical, money-wasting, accident causing, completely unwanted idea. It needs to be removed instantly and replaced with stoplights and crossing lights.

That is the only way this intersection can be made safe. This waste of tax dollars needs to go and it needs to go today.

Jami JoAnne Russell
Costa Mesa

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In reading Sara Cardine’s article, “Installations on Costa Mesa’s West 19th Street have drivers seeing circles — if only for a week,” I was literally stunned!

As someone who relies on an e-bike for local transit and commuting, it was the story about turning circles that initially drew me in.

For my safety and that of everyone who walks or bikes our streets, I sincerely appreciate any/all roadway improvements designed to slow vehicular traffic. However, what I found especially encouraging was learning about the process that led to these temporary installations.

Hearing about a local nonprofit and the city of Costa Mesa working hand in hand is really refreshing. Rather than merely complaining about the dangerous conditions of their streets, a group of Costa Mesa residents decided to do something about it.

Not only did Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets identify an issue and constructively engage with the city, but they also seized on an opportunity to apply for a grant from the Southern California Assn. of Governments to fund this temporary installation. Costa Mesa should also be congratulated for its engagement and support of residents seeking to improve the community.

While I love the idea of employing turning circles at most intersections, I know many Americans are not familiar with this type of street design, even though turning circles are omnipresent in many parts of the world.

You may love turning circles or you may hate them, but it sounds like the assessment phase of this demonstration will ultimately determine the future for this intersection.

Regardless of the final result, what’s impressive is the collaborative effort of these residents and their local government.

Steve Shepherd
Huntington Beach

Initiative is facing coronavirus challenges

Mayor Katrina Foley used her leadership skills and experience to establish the reStore Costa Mesa initiative.

About 50 business and community members and three Costa Mesa City Council members are participating.

The community members bring together a broad spectrum of Orange County’s leaders to develop initiatives for safely restoring and reopening community services and businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

When services and businesses start to reopen, plans and guidelines must be already widely disseminated to ensure safe operation and to avoid a dramatic increase of new COVID-19 cases due to unsafe practices that could cause closures once again.

ReStore Costa Mesa team members know their services and industries and how practices can be adapted to allow for safe physical distancing, sanitization of touch points, and both patron and worker protections, etc.

At Trellis, I have the privilege of working with a good number of the faith leaders in our city to help facilitate collaboration around our city’s greater challenges.

Clearly COVID-19 has been one of those challenges this last year, and it was an honor to be invited by Mayor Foley to be a part of the reStore Costa Mesa team to help represent and serve faith leaders during this confusing time.

Foley and her team of council members did a great job of keeping us up to date with the current numbers, standards and protocols being asked for by the state, county and city.

As an example, Councilwoman Andrea Marr was a huge help when questions came up that needed a more detailed response. Our faith leaders really appreciated this practical support.

In general, our faith leaders have been patient and respectful of the process and have done their best to honor the restrictions and protocols in the midst of their frustrations with not being able to gather as they would like. We are pleased that places of worship are now partially open so we can get together again.

This has not been an ideal time for any of us. However, through Foley’s continued leadership and the reStore Costa Mesa meetings and process we have walked through it better together and we know our actions in the coming weeks will be critical to speeding up the rebound of our community services, businesses and way of life, all in a safe way.

Ian Stevenson
Costa Mesa
Executive Director, Trellis

It’s not yet time to dine out

A letter writer in a recent Daily Pilot Mailbag complains that restaurants and bars are being unfairly targeted in Newport Beach with new ordinances being considered for them to prevent coronavirus spread.

On Sept. 10, the CDC stated that eating in a restaurant increase one’s risk of contracting coronavirus more than any other activity.

I feel for the restaurants, I really do. I enjoy eating out as much as the next person, but I’m not going to dine in or outdoors at one until the virus is tamed (I have been doing curbside).

This is all unfortunate but it is the world we live in. Perhaps if the Trump administration had done a better job at responding to the outbreak instead of lying about and politicizing it, we might be like the rest of the Western world and be more open.

Canada just suffered its first fatality in more than 100 days. We are still seeing 1,000 deaths a day. That is where the bigger problem lies with the pandemic.

Mike Aguilar
Costa Mesa

Kudos for climate commentary

The Daily Pilot deserves special recognition for helping readers become aware of viable solutions to the biggest problem facing humankind.

Many papers report on wildfires, floods, heat waves, sea level rise and extreme weather events. A few papers connect the dots between these events and global warming. It is the rare paper that helps its readers evaluate policy solutions.

This commentary about climate change (Local climate lobbyists see common ground for bipartisan action, Sept. 10) gives us hope that our political leaders can come together to develop national climate policies that will transition us from a fossil-fuel economy to one powered by clean energy.

The Energy Innovation Act (HR-763) is advocated overwhelmingly by scientists and economists. It promises to quickly and effectively reduce emissions while growing the economy, protecting lower-income families, and motivating other nations to adopt similar policies.

And, it is funded not by taxpayers, but from carbon fees collected from the polluting coal, oil and gas companies.

Craig Preston
Costa Mesa

Dig deeper than the colorful signs

It is now less than seven weeks to our local elections, and I am seeing our city streets and intersections festooned with colorful campaign signs.

Do people respond to them? I certainly hope they don’t base their vote on a face or a slogan. We need to dig a lot deeper and explore leadership and decision-making capacities.

We need responses to issues and concerns. We used to have candidate forums and questionnaires. Now, we’re lucky to have candidate statements that only hint at their interests.

Some candidates are running for themselves and not for their constituents, for special interests and not for the citizenry. If they are “pro-business,” chances are it’s not your business they are backing.

What does “community-centric” mean? We need to hold candidates accountable. Above all, voters should not be stampeded by anyone into hasty and ill-advised decisions.

Be informed. Look before you leap. The folks you blithely give your vote to could wind up ruining local government for us all over the next few years. It’s time to get serious.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

Fires, hurricanes and COVID-19

Imagine the mayors of Huntington Beach, Newport, Laguna and San Clemente downplaying the news a 30-foot tidal wave was heading directly toward South County beaches because they didn’t want people to panic. There’s no telling how many deaths or injuries the tsunami would leave behind in its wake.

The same is true for Gavin Newsom. I’m glad he didn’t take a page out of Donald Trump’s COVID-19 playbook and downplay the seriousness of the California wildfires because he was worried people might panic. There’s no telling how many thousands of bodies would be left in the ashes had he remained silent.

Governors in Florida and bordering states routinely evacuate residents before a hurricane hits. Ditto governors in Michigan and Iowa when a major cold front rolls through their states.

In my opinion, had President Trump acted more like governors and told Americans the truth about the deadly coronavirus, then we wouldn’t be on the cusp of 200,000 COVID-19-related deaths today.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

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