Park bridge is necessary

On April 18, the city of Costa Mesa officially dedicated the Fairview Park Bridge with a ribbon cutting ceremony. For those in the community who have seen the bridge, it provides both pedestrian and bicycle access connecting the two sides of Fairview Park over Placentia Avenue. The park is divided by that road, with 155 acres to the west and 53 acres to the east.

The bridge is already being used as a major pathway across busy Placentia Avenue. As part of the Fairview Park Master Plan, the Fairview Park Trail System will be expanded over the next few years, and the bridge will receive significantly more use. The bridge is an important component of the trail system, allowing safe access to all areas of the park and the Santa Ana River Trail without having to cross a public street.

The city was able to assemble funding for construction of the project with Park Development Funds, which are legally restricted to park construction or parkland acquisition purposes, and an OCTA grant in the amount of $200,000. The grant funds were restricted to the design and construction of bicycle facilities. A recent letter to the editor asked how much of this funding could have otherwise been spent to repair local streets or on police and fire personnel. Even though those are also priorities for the community, the answer is that none of the funding for the bridge could have been used for those purposes.

A bridge was approved as part of the original Park Master Plan. The plan was adopted at a public hearing by the City Council after years of input and public meetings by the Fairview Park advisory committee and the parks and recreation commission. The process included public review and comment. Since its original approval by the City Council, the master plan has been reviewed and updated on two separate occasions through numerous public meetings. Ultimately, updates were approved by the City Council in February 2001 and November 2002. During these meetings, no written or oral negative comments were received concerning the bridge over Placentia Avenue.

I hope my fellow Costa Mesans will take the opportunity to visit Fairview Park, use the trails and take advantage of the badly needed bridge linking the park’s two segments.