No bridges are good bridges

Just when you thought all the bridge issues were dead, Fountain

Valley city leaders built up the rancor this month by requesting

$500,000 in grant funding to study design and environmental

possibilities for a bridge at Garfield and Gisler avenues.

Sure, this would empty into Fountain Valley, but it would have

undeniable effects on Surf City neighborhoods nearby. That’s why it

has residents and city officials rankled.

The topic came on the heels of a resurfaced discussion of a bridge

at Costa Mesa’s 19th Street, which many had hoped to link to

Huntington Beach.

Both plans are so unpopular that leaders in Costa Mesa, Fountain

Valley, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach have been working with

county officials to find alternatives to the unpopular bridges.

Thus the surprise that Fountain Valley would suddenly change

direction. And while officials from Fountain Valley argue that there

is no reason for Costa Mesa residents to be upset, spending any time

or money on a route other than removing the bridges from county

planning is reason enough.

The downsides to construction of a bridge at Garfield and Gisler

avenues (as well as the one languishing on county maps at 19th

Street) greatly outweigh any benefits. The bridges, according to the

vast majority of people and most experts, would serve only as

high-speed alternatives to Pacific Coast Highway, Hamilton Street and

Adams Avenue. They will not bring more business to the neighborhoods

around those streets.

Surf City officials, therefore, would serve their constituents

well by jumping into the fray, if necessary, to see that these

bridges aren’t built. That city leaders seemed relatively nonplused

by the news, once the initial shock wore off, is encouraging. They

need to remain focused on what’s best for the city.

And that is not more ways across the Santa Ana River.