Octa

The proposed bridge once thought to be off the table that would link Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach is back. Orange County Transportation Authority board members voted 17 to 0 Monday to pull back deleting the 19th Street Bridge from the county's master plan. Huntington Beach Mayor Don Hansen made the motion, to which County Supervisor John Moorlach seconded. Supervisor Janet Nguyen abstained. The change, however, may only be temporary, OCTA officials said. The board is expected to take up the issue again within six months, after OCTA staff work on a traffic study with the county, the California Department of Transportation, and the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

Newport Beach Mayor Nancy Gardner sent a letter to the region's transportation agency this week, urging its directing board to put the 19th Street Bridge proposal back on the county's master transportation plan or work with her city on other traffic-reducing alternatives. Gardner and the City Council want to avoid suing the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which jettisoned the bridge from its master plan at the urging of Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Newport, however, plans to take legal action if OCTA doesn't comply with its request to negotiate putting the bridge proposal back on the grid or if OCTA rejects alternatives outlined in Gardner's letter to explore traffic-reducing alternatives.

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) will update the Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday on the agency's efforts to widen the San Diego (405) Freeway and possibly the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway. The projects could impact residential sections of Costa Mesa, and many residents are opposed. For years, OCTA has been working with the state Department of Transportation on how to widen a stretch of the 405 in Orange County. In 2006, OCTA approved the idea of examining a few scenarios that added one to two lanes in each direction between the San Gabriel (605)

Well, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle's "vote-gate" has passed, and the Newport Beach City Council officially voted this week to sue the Orange County Transportation Authority for removing the 19th Street Bridge from the county's Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). The bridge, which was originally placed on the MPAH in 1957, has been formally opposed by both Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa for decades but was supported by Newport Beach, as Councilman Keith Curry says, "as long as I have been on council [2006]

COSTA MESA — The city and Orange County Transportation Authority have tapped an engineering firm to expand earlier studies on extending the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway. Lowell, Mass.-based TRC Companies, Inc. was awarded a $1.1-million contract this week to evaluate traffic circulation at the 55 Freeway-Newport Boulevard exit into Costa Mesa. "This is a longterm project that we've had on our books for a long, long time," said Costa Mesa Public Services Director Peter Naghavi.

The Orange County Transportation Authority will unveil short- and long-term solutions to rising gas prices at a public meeting Thursday. OCTA will also kick off a “Dump the Pump” week Monday to encourage commuters to ride public transit. Commit to dumping the pump at least one day a week and be entered to win a prize, including gift certificates, movie or Metrolink tickets. Pledge at www.octa.net/dumpthepump . To get ready for Dump the Pump week, OCTA directors will take public transportation to headquarters for the meeting, which will reveal a relief plan that includes the expansion of Metrolink and Bus Rapid Transit.

About 150 people crammed into the Victoria Room at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Center Monday night, ready to question a number of plans to ease congestion at the 55 Freeway’s end. Residents scrutinized the proposals for almost an hour during a question and answer session put forth by the Orange County Transportation Authority and LSA Associates, the firm contracted to develop them. While OCTA says 100,000 vehicles use Newport Boulevard every day, residents at the meeting cited Caltrans as saying 180,000 vehicles use the thoroughfare.

Former Costa Mesa Mayor Peter Buffa was unanimously elected the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors this week. Buffa replaces county Supervisor Chris Norby in the role. OCTA has factored most prominently in the Newport-Mesa area recently as the body responsible for authorizing and funding studies to determine how to address the increasing car traffic on the 55 Freeway. Buffa is one of a few prominent Costa Mesans on the board including Mayor Allan Mansoor and County Supervisor John Moorlach.

All of the Orange County Transportation Authority's 81 lines are back in service and were running at more than 95% of their usual service levels as of Wednesday afternoon. Fares will continue to be free until midnight Thursday. The authority expects service to return to normal Friday, following the conclusion of a weeklong drivers' strike. Some delays may occur on select routes through the end of the day. "It's been a tremendous effort on the part of the coach operators, the maintenance team and OCTA staff to get the system up and running so quickly," said authority Chairwoman Carolyn Cavecche in a statement.

County transportation officials are hoping that the public may bring a fresh perspective to efforts to relieve traffic congestion at the 55 Freeway terminus in downtown Costa Mesa. A survey available at www.octa.net/55_access.aspx asks residents to identify the times they most frequently use the Newport Boulevard terminus, how often they try to avoid the stretch, and for other traffic behavior. The survey is part of a broader effort by the Orange County Transportation Authority to alleviate chronic traffic on the major thoroughfare to Newport Beach.

The proposed bridge once thought to be off the table that would link Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach is back. Orange County Transportation Authority board members voted 17 to 0 Monday to pull back deleting the 19th Street Bridge from the county's master plan. Huntington Beach Mayor Don Hansen made the motion, to which County Supervisor John Moorlach seconded. Supervisor Janet Nguyen abstained. The change, however, may only be temporary, OCTA officials said. The board is expected to take up the issue again within six months, after OCTA staff work on a traffic study with the county, the California Department of Transportation, and the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

Next month, the Costa Mesa City Council will take a formal position regarding the proposed controversial expansion of the San Diego (405) Freeway through Costa Mesa. It is critical for the residents to become educated and speak out about what impact this project will have on our city. For those not familiar with the plan, California Department of Transportation and the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) are proposing to widen the 405 from the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway, to the San Gabriel River (605)

If the Orange County Transportation Authority doesn't widen the San Diego (405) Freeway in Costa Mesa, an existing bottleneck could relocate from Fountain Valley to Costa Mesa, transportation officials said Tuesday. In his update to the Costa Mesa City Council about OCTA's three scenarios to improve the 405, project manager Niall Barrett said extending the project into the section south of Euclid Street onto the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway is the best option to manage congestion.

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) will update the Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday on the agency's efforts to widen the San Diego (405) Freeway and possibly the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway. The projects could impact residential sections of Costa Mesa, and many residents are opposed. For years, OCTA has been working with the state Department of Transportation on how to widen a stretch of the 405 in Orange County. In 2006, OCTA approved the idea of examining a few scenarios that added one to two lanes in each direction between the San Gabriel (605)

Newport Beach Mayor Nancy Gardner sent a letter to the region's transportation agency this week, urging its directing board to put the 19th Street Bridge proposal back on the county's master transportation plan or work with her city on other traffic-reducing alternatives. Gardner and the City Council want to avoid suing the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which jettisoned the bridge from its master plan at the urging of Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Newport, however, plans to take legal action if OCTA doesn't comply with its request to negotiate putting the bridge proposal back on the grid or if OCTA rejects alternatives outlined in Gardner's letter to explore traffic-reducing alternatives.

An Orange County Transportation Authority committee rejected an appeal Monday regarding its decision to eliminate long-term plans for a bridge across the Santa Ana River connecting Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. The OCTA board deleted decades-old plans for the 19th Street Bridge from the county master plan last month. The decision was well received by hundreds of neighbors who would have seen more traffic if the bridge were built, but wasn't as popular with Newport Beach officials, who have to deal with traffic routed through Coast Highway.

Well, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle's "vote-gate" has passed, and the Newport Beach City Council officially voted this week to sue the Orange County Transportation Authority for removing the 19th Street Bridge from the county's Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). The bridge, which was originally placed on the MPAH in 1957, has been formally opposed by both Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa for decades but was supported by Newport Beach, as Councilman Keith Curry says, "as long as I have been on council [2006]

The Newport Beach City Council revised its stance on the 19th Street Bridge controversy Tuesday night, deciding to try negotiating with the Orange County Transportation Authority before filing a lawsuit. The council unanimously approved having City Manager Dave Kiff seek an agreement with the OCTA to pause the statute of limitations on a civil suit while the two sides "try to resolve disputes without the need for litigation," City Attorney Aaron Harp said. The council took a second vote authorizing Harp to file a lawsuit against the OCTA before the statute of limitations runs out. That vote was 5 to 2, with council members Keith Curry and Leslie Daigle dissenting.

The Newport Beach City Council will have a chance to vote publicly at its regular meeting Tuesday on whether to sue the Orange County Transportation Authority, after some dispute over whether or not it has already done so. The confusion centers in part on a public statement issued Tuesday by City Attorney Aaron Harp seeking to clarify the accuracy of a Daily Pilot opinion column, which stated that the council voted to sue OCTA. A few days prior to that, Harp had sent an email to a community activist stating there was a 6-1 vote to sue. The "vote" was reported by Daily Pilot columnist Jack Wu, based on that email.

Well then, last week's column criticizing the Newport Beach council's decision to remove the Corona del Mar fire rings got quite a reception. I think the only thing I wasn't attacked for was the Reagan quote. Even my attempt at sarcasm regarding the trashy harbor was skewered by my buddy Mike Whitehead, a columnist over at the Newport Beach Independent. But I must address a couple of mistakes made by my, um, "fans": No. 1: I'm an opinion columnist, not a reporter, so if you don't like my opinion, don't read it. No. 2: If you take what I write as gospel, then you need to go back to school for reading comprehension lessons.