Newport-Mesa agencies receive safety grants

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Public safety programs in both cities will benefit

from traffic safety grants handed out by Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday.

The 182 new grants, which will fund a variety of local and statewide

programs, total $30.3 million and will be distributed to cities, counties

and state departments.

Costa Mesa Police Department will receive $25,000, and the Newport

Beach Police and Public Works departments will get $76,160 and $50,000, respectively. UC Irvine’s Health and Policy Research program also

received $481,481.

The newly funded grants fall under several priority program areas that

include vehicle occupant protection, driving under the influence,

emergency medical response services, police traffic services, bicycle and

pedestrian education programs, traffic collision data collection, roadway

safety, and outreach to community-based organizations throughout

California.

Newport Beach police will use the money to pay the DUI team for

overtime shifts, especially on weekends and holidays, Sgt. Steve Shulman

said.

“It will also help us fund two DUI checkpoints,” he said.

The money will be available from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2003.

Shulman said the department has benefited from traffic safety funds in

previous years.

“I believe we’ve used the money to buy laser guns for speed

enforcement and funded other DUI programs,” he said.

Of the $30.3 million in grants statewide, about $4.2 million has been

allocated to Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The Public Works department will use its $50,000 to update

computerized traffic accident records system, City Manager Homer Bludau

said.

“It will allow the Police Department, as well as our traffic

engineers, to better identify trends in accidents,” he said. “That way,

we can look at what we can do differently to make the situation better.”

In Costa Mesa, the intersection of Placentia Avenue and 20th Street

will get a crosswalk safety light modeled after one in Laguna Beach, Lt.

Karl Schuler said. The light alerts drivers when pedestrians are crossing

the street.

“In that area, it has been an issue with dayworkers and a bus stop,”

he said. “The crosswalk safety light has really helped in Laguna.”

The light will probably be installed in a year, Schuler said.