Traffic projects to go as planned

Alicia Robinson

Local drivers will still see orange traffic cones and detour signs in

2005, despite state cutbacks to transportation funding expected in

the next fiscal year.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach officials have extensive lists of

road improvement projects slated for this year that won’t be hampered

by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget, which diverts gas tax money

from transportation to other areas.

A slew of residential paving projects will be taking place

throughout the year in both cities. Projects in Costa Mesa’s

immediate future include repaving 19th Street between Park and

Placentia avenues, said Costa Mesa Public Services Director Bill

Morris.

“That’s my last big project this fiscal year, to completely

rehabilitate 19th Street,” he said.

In Newport, one noticeable project beginning soon is a southbound

right-turn lane on Newport Boulevard at Hospital Road.

“That’s a project that a lot of folks will like,” Newport Beach

Public Works Director Steve Badum said. “There’s pretty heavy

right-turn movement onto Hospital Road.”

For other projects, the cities are depending on Measure M funds,

which come from Orange County’s half-cent sales tax. The Orange

County Transportation Authority is now accepting requests for chunks

of $248 million, one of the biggest Measure M funding packages since

the sales tax was approved in 1991 and the last major disbursement

expected before the tax expires in 2011, said transportation

authority spokesman Ted Nguyen.

Costa Mesa officials are hoping for about $10 million in Measure M

funds to pay for paving projects on streets including Arlington

Drive, Fair Drive, MacArthur Boulevard, Orange Avenue and South Coast

Drive.

Newport Beach is taking a conservative route, expecting only about

$1 million from measure M over the next couple years, Badum said. A

major paving project on Jamboree Road will be deferred if the city

doesn’t get those funds, he said.

Caltrans still owns Bristol Street along the Corona del Mar

Freeway but wants to give it to Newport, Badum said. But that won’t

happen this year if the state can’t come up with $700,000 it has

promised for road maintenance.

Because local officials know they can’t rely on the state, they’ve

planned for that and will still be able to drum up their own money

for the most vital projects, Morris said.

“There really isn’t any additional funding from the state at this

point, and I don’t anticipate any, and I’m not going to get my hopes

up,” he said.