IRVINE : Supervisors Reject Wetlands Road Link
Because construction might disturb the fragile Upper Newport Bay wetlands, county supervisors voted Wednesday not to build a proposed segment of University Drive that would have linked Irvine Avenue with Jamboree Road.
The decision, which deleted the mile-long section from the county master plan of arterial highways, was supported by environmentalists and Newport Beach’s city government. Officials said traffic could instead be accommodated by completing connecting ramps between the Costa Mesa and the Corona del Mar freeways.
Other proposed traffic improvements include widening Irvine Avenue from Bristol Street to University Drive and improving Bristol Street with more travel and turn lanes.
Most of the University Drive segment at issue is in an unincorporated area of the county that juts south past the Newport Beach city limit.
Fred Robinson, a spokesman for The Friends of Newport Bay, said he supports the supervisors’ decision because “it is the last step making all the lands compatible with the ecological reserve” that runs along the rim of Upper Newport Bay and the connecting San Diego Creek Channel.
It represents about 5% to 10% of what is left of what used to be extensive wetlands,” Robinson said.
The supervisors voted, 4-0, to delete the proposed University Drive segment. Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez was absent.
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