Here's the LINK to the almost daily Daily Pilot's story on last night's meeting about the 55.
As we predicted, the bureaucrats are going to drag their feet on giving relief to Costa Mesa.
The bureaucrats constantly talk about reaching consensus. Consensus? By and between whom?
Apparently they mean that Costa Mesa must reach consensus with Newport Beach about what to do with the 55 Freeway that is in Costa Mesa, but not in Newport Beach.
Folks, Newport Beach doesn't want the 55 in that city. That city is afraid that if the 55 even extends down to 15th Street, that it will cause more traffic in Newport (and it will) and especially on the Peninsula.
As things are now, some of the beach bound traffic that drops off near 19th Street in Costa Mesa is bled off to neighborhood streets in Costa Mesa, and meanders to various beaches in a more circuitous route which gives some relief to the Peninsula.
Put a tunnel to 15th Street, and the traffic will shoot out of it to the Peninsula like the cannon ball express.
Costa Mesa needs relief now
A small thing that the state can do right now is to change traffic signs.
Instead of telling inland traffic that the way to the beach is via the 55, the signs can be changed to direct traffic down the 73 (or Bristol Street) to MacArthur and Jamboree.
And, signs can be erected indicating that the 55 is for "local Costa Mesa traffic." Will it fool anyone? Maybe enough to make a difference to our downtown right now.
So, the signs might look like this as you drive from inland cities to the beach. "55 ENDS 2 MILES. LOCAL COSTA MESA TRAFFIC ONLY." "BEACH TRAFFIC TAKE 73"
Of course, it would be better for Costa Mesa if the 55 really did just end at the 73 with a Bristol Street off ramp, but that's not going to happen, at least not permanently.
If the state ever does decide to stop mumbling and bumbling and put the 55 into a tunnel, the beach bound traffic will no doubt be temporarily diverted to the 73 and Bristol.
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SOUNDS LIKE A SMEAR TO US
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Fullerton's very own Brady Rhoades, who commutes to Costa Mesa each day to share his insights on the local scene (of which he is not a part) in his 9-5 stint as the managing editor of the almost daily Daily Pilot, wrote on his blog yesterday that Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor would have an opinion column in today's almost daily Daily Pilot. [Photo is not of Brady Rhoades. Really. It's Pee-wee Herman. Honest.]Mr. Rhoades was apparently so excited about whatever it was that Mansoor wrote that he couldn't wait for the column to appear; so without readers seeing the column in context, Rhoades raised the specter of fascism if the Costa Mesa City Council is all in agreement on some issues as Mr. Mansoor apparently wrote in his column. LINK
Well, here we are on Wednesday, and the CM PRESS looked in vain trying to find the column by Mansoor.
Maybe it's just in the paper version of the Pilot, because we don't see it in the online version as of 6:00 AM. We'll keep checking, though.
Maybe it's just in the paper version of the Pilot, because we don't see it in the online version as of 6:00 AM. We'll keep checking, though.
Rhoades ends his blog entry with the mention of baseball. Here's our own take on that:
Rhoades is at bat.
Strike One: It is unfair to criticize something that hasn't even appeared in the paper yet.
Strike Two: It is unfair to take things out of context.
Strike Three: If Mansoor's column does, in fact, only appear in the paper version of the Pilot, then comments about it online by the managing editor of the paper are also out of line.
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Those are our opinions. We actually live in Costa Mesa.
