OCTA removes 19th Street bridge from plan By Mike Reicher March 12, 2012 | 11:59 a.m.
ORANGE — The Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted Monday to strike the proposed 19th Street Bridge from the county's master plan.
The move effectively ends decades of studies and controversy about the potential bridge that would have linked Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach over the Santa Ana River.
Environmentalists and 19th Street residents pleaded Monday to eliminate the bridge, as Huntington Beach Mayor and OCTA Director Don Hansen ushered through the unusual vote to change the county's long-standing master plan.
Newport Beach leaders were the lone holdouts among the three most affected cities; Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach opposed the bridge. Under the county's typical procedures, all three would have to agree to abandon the bridge idea.
But OCTA directors agreed that the bridge was unlikely to ever be built because of its forecasted $150-million cost, the difficulties in obtaining permits from state and federal regulators, and intense opposition from nearby residents.
The vote was unanimous, except for OCTA Director and County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who abstained.
"We're feeling very relieved," said Sandie Frankiewicz, who owns two homes on 19th Street, one of which would have likely been demolished to widen the street for the bridge.
Officials from Huntington and Newport said Monday that they would discuss ways to improve the existing roadways to accommodate the anticipated population growth.
"The city of Huntington Beach is very much aware that the elimination of this bridge has consequences," Hansen said.
More traffic on Coast Highway was one of the reasons Newport City Councilman Steve Rosansky revived talks about the bridge last year. Since the early 1990s, residents and officials in Costa Mesa and Huntington have worked to scrap the bridge, but Newport kept protesting, causing the process to stall.
Rosansky and Newport Deputy Public Works Director Dave Webb spoke at the meeting in an attempt to keep the bridge talks alive and to obligate the other cities to make traffic fixes. They hoped to replicate a process that OCTA undertook up the river with the Gisler-Garfield avenues bridge, another proposed Costa Mesa-Huntington connector that faced a similar predicament.
After they couldn't agree to build or remove that bridge, Huntington, Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley officials decided about five years ago to improve existing streets near Gisler, instead of building the bridge.
But the span remains on the county master plan, in case the other measures aren't successful.
Without that type of agreement, Webb said he was skeptical that other cities would work to alleviate traffic.
"What are the assurances that any mitigations are going to be done?" Webb asked after the vote.
Even though the Gisler-Garfield improvements appeared to be helping, County Supervisor and OCTA Director John Moorlach also called for that bridge's removal from the master plan Monday. He said that eliminating both should be accomplished in "one fell swoop."
That request appeared to take OCTA staff members and directors by surprise, and Moorlach asked for the issue to be brought before the board at a future meeting.
One significant reason the county maintains a master plan of highways is to assist cities and developers in planning for future growth. Since the plan was created in the 1950s, local agencies have used the proposed 19th Street Bridge in their traffic forecasting, and have required developers to make road improvements accordingly.
Developers will now have to adjust.
Without the bridge, Newport Banning Ranch would generate congestion at more intersections than with the bridge, according to its environmental impact report. The proposed large-scale residential, resort and commercial development near the border of Costa Mesa and Newport would trigger failing grades at nine additional intersections, including seven intersections on West Coast Highway.
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Transit officials kill 19th Street Bridge The cities of Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa have fiercely opposed the bridge for years, while Newport Beach has supported it. By SEAN GREENE / FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER March 12, 2012 Updated: 5:15 p.m.
County transportation officials voted unanimously Monday morning to remove the 19th Street Bridge from the county master plan in response to severe community opposition and the $150 million price tag.
The measure, brought forward by Huntington Beach Mayor and Orange County Transportation Authority board member Don Hansen, puts an end to two decades of debate over the connection, which would link Westside Costa Mesa and southeast Huntington Beach.
Despite years of recurring discussions, talks have always led to a stalemate, Hansen said.
“The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and get the same result,” Hansen said in the meeting. “I just think it’s time to call this question once and for all.”
The 19th Street Bridge carried a number of challenges making its construction unlikely, including environmental and community impacts, according to an OCTA staff report.
The board’s action makes a one-time exception to the master plan of arterial highway’s policy in light of the bridge’s challenges and local opposition.
The residents of Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa have fiercely opposed a 19th Street Bridge for years. In January, more than 500 residents showed near-unanimous support for removing the bridge at a public meeting at Eader Elementary in Huntington. Hansen and County Supervisor John Moorlach presided over that meeting.
The Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa City Councils have recently passed resolutions reaffirming opposition to the bridge and sent letters to OCTA requesting the bridge’s removal from the master plan of arterial highways. Newport Beach has been the sole hold-out in support of the bridge, asking OCTA at the end of February to further study on the matter.
At the OCTA meeting, Newport Beach City Councilman Steve Rosansky and Director of Public Works Dave Webb asked the board to keep the bridge on the master plan as the three cities convene to discuss traffic improvements without it.
“If you remove this link, the traffic will move. It will shift … to Coast Highway,” Webb said.
The board’s alternative option was to relegate the bridge to a “right-of-way reserve” status, which means cities and developers would not be able to consider a future 19th Street Bridge in traffic impact modeling studies. During this period, OCTA and stakeholder cities would have to come to a consensus on roadway improvements before the bridge could be removed from the plan. The Garfield-Gisler Bridge is currently undergoing that process.
Of the 11 board members present, all agreed Tuesday that it was unlikely a consensus would ever be reached. Director Janet Nguyen abstained from the vote, saying she wanted the board to adhere to the proper procedure for removing the bridge.
The connection had been on the county master plan since the 1950s.
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