All too familiar bully can be seen from 19th Street

More than two years ago, in July 2001, we wrote in an editorial:

“It’s time for Newport Beach to act like a good neighbor. Officials

and residents in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach want the county to

remove a planned bridge over the Santa Ana River between 19th Street

in Costa Mesa and Banning Avenue in Huntington Beach, as well as one

at Gisler Avenue.”

The editorial continued: “And Newport Beach leaders haven’t budged

on their insistence that the bridges remain as a potential solution,

in their minds, to the crowded Coast Highway.... It is time they do.

It is clear that the bridge is not wanted, and it should not be

forced on Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach residents.”

Since then, little had changed.

Late last month, Newport Beach city leaders reaffirmed their

support for a bridge over the river. “We need that bridge,”

Councilman Dick Nichols said. “Everything we have looked at would

suggest that no other viable alternative really exists,” Newport

Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg added.

Why is that? History suggests a few possible answers. One is the

shortened Costa Mesa Freeway, which ends at 19th Street instead of

continuing all the way to Coast Highway. Another is the nonexistent

“coastal freeway” that was to run along Coast Highway.

Why is one freeway miles short of planned and another just a

phantom memory? History certainly points to residents of Newport

Beach, who fought aggressively against both plans and won both those

fights.

Newport’s support of the bridge across the Santa Ana River is an

obvious continuation of this battle. And it is a shameful battle, for

Newport residents are saying, quite clearly, that they don’t want

excess non-Newport traffic on their streets but do feel fine about

cars barreling through Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach neighborhoods.

More than feeling fine about it, they even think that’s the best

plan.

It is not. It is unfair. And it is an example of why Newport Beach

has earned a reputation for being a selfish bully. (That reputation

was used masterfully by opponents of an El Toro airport, who were

able to brand Newport Beach the bad guy in the debate).

Still, a bridge across the Santa Ana River will ruin neighborhoods

on the Westside and in parts of Huntington Beach, also with traffic

not from those communities. And that bridge will loom over those

residents until Newport pulls its support and enables the county to

remove the bridges from its plans for handling future transportation

needs.

There is a note of hope, however. The city’s resolution supporting

the bridge allows for a change of heart if “a reasonable and

practical alternative can be established that is fair and balanced

for all jurisdictions.”

Newport Beach leaders could help lose their bully image if they

honestly and intently work toward such a solution and, in this case

at least, think about the needs of others in the wider community of

Orange County. They will not be helping their own constituents by

doing anything else.