Move the people around Costa Mesa

Frank Forbath

Costa Mesa should have a people mover (details follow) to transport

workers, shoppers and others around this already congested area --

all the way from the westernmost shops of Metro Pointe to the eastern

end of the planned offices and potential hotels on Sakioka

properties, at Main Street -- a 2 1/4-mile distance. It should not

merely be something to carry folks from the edge of South Coast Plaza

to Anton Boulevard and Avenue of the Arts, as a representative of the

Segerstrom’s suggested recently as a possibility.

The people mover could be moving sidewalks, as in many airports, a

monorail, or other possible methods being planned around the country.

A combination of people mover systems might be possible, such as

moving sidewalks over the two bridges over Bear Street and over

Bristol Street to the east, and along Metro Pointe shopping sites; a

monorail around the perimeter of South Coast Plaza; and a system to

augment CenterLine east of Bristol to the music and theater centers,

offices and hotels.

Business travelers arriving at John Wayne Airport would not need

to rent a car. With CenterLine and the people mover, anyone coming in

could go to within a few feet of any one of the Costa Mesa hotels,

eat dinner at the wide assortment of deluxe restaurants, attend an

evening show and spend the next day at the desired Costa Mesa office

and then, perhaps, go back to the airport for the flight out. The

same could be true for travelers on MetroLink or Amtrak arriving in

Santa Ana, from San Diego area or from Los Angeles and points north.

And consider the potential for this area being a true destination

point for shopping, eating out and an evening at the theater, movies

or entertainment at one of the several area hotel nightclubs. The

sales tax and potential hotel bed tax increases to Costa Mesa could

be substantial. This could be a win-win situation for local

businesses, the thousands of workers in the area high-rise offices,

and to the city.

I urge the City Council to direct staff to examine the potential

of this wide-area people-mover idea. All the local developers might

have a positive stake in such an integrated transportation system.

And such a local transportation system should be in place before the

arrival of CenterLine, in part to beat other cities from likely

planning such full-destination points, thus reducing the maximum

potential gain for Costa Mesa. (I am not privy to any possible

similar suggestions, but perhaps if there are, this discussion may

help move such a proposal along.) In the meantime, a local tram could

move people, as Laguna Beach does during much of the summer.

And finally, for naysayers to CenterLine, claiming that the light

rail would not help our local traffic, they might consider the

potential of ride-pools from Fullerton or Orange (or elsewhere)

parking at the Santa Ana rail terminal, taking CenterLine and a

people mover to and then from work -- substantially reducing not only

local traffic, but also our air pollution.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Frank Forbath is a Costa Mesa resident.