Letter to the editor

I have grave concerns about the prospect of widening 17th Street to

six lanes. There are five registered voters at our house, and we all are

of one mind on this critical issue that the City Council is about to

decide on Monday. We’ve been following the plan and are getting worried.

Let me say up front that we do have a business interest in this matter

-- the Yoga Center of California at 445 E. 17th St. -- but it doesn’t

look like our building will be much affected by the plan. Our real

concern is that of citizens who shop 17th Street most days and who want

to see our community flavor preserved.

Here’s what we’d like to see:

Bus turnouts. This is a good idea with minimal impact on property

owners, parking or sidewalks. They should make a big difference in

traffic flow.

Four lanes from Orange Avenue to Dover Drive. This preserves the look

and utility of 17th Street and prevents the “funnel effect” of going from

six to four lanes in a short span.

We would hate to see: Six lanes. Take a look at Harbor Boulevard north

of 19th Street for an idea of how this would look. Is this what we want

for 17th Street?

Center medians. These would have a terrible effect on access to 17th

Street businesses. We understand the reasoning for this expensive element

of the plan is to provide a place for jaywalkers to stand when crossing

the street illegally. Give me a break.

Part of the reasoning for these plan elements is to provide safer

driving conditions along 17th Street. The thought is that restricting how

and where people have access to businesses will prevent problems (like

cars driving down the center turn lane rather than stopping there until

it’s safe to merge). But can you imagine a Chevy Suburban trying to make

a U-turn around a median to get to a business whose access was cut off?

Or, worse yet, a delivery truck? Give us the center turn lane any day.

Of course, everyone wants to prevent accidents, but wouldn’t it be

more cost effective to actually enforce traffic rules, citing jaywalkers

and reckless drivers? I bet that a year of vigilance by our police would

change many bad driving and bike riding habits, despite the wailing and

gnashing of teeth over having to pay traffic fines. And I bet most of the

citations would go to out-of-town drivers anyway, since most residents

are experienced navigators of 17th Street.

We understand that the city may be losing federal funding if we don’t

adhere to some decades-old transportation plan. We say, so be it. There

is more at stake here than money or traffic flow issues for other

communities.

It’s time to put aside the rhetoric about providing a favorable

business climate and walk the walk by not inflicting this disaster on our

neighborhood merchants. We’re talking about forever altering the heart of

Costa Mesa.

MELISSA SWEET

Costa Mesa