There’s no reason to span this gulf

So the city of Costa Mesa inches ever so slightly closer to accepting

the Gisler-Garfield bridge. As a homeowner who lives on Gisler, I’m

not very happy that the Orange County Transportation Authority is

getting ready to spend more taxpayer money on yet another bridge

study. What is this study going to reveal that the Santa Ana River

Crossing Study did not? Couldn’t the transportation authority and its

high priced consultants get it right the first time? How many studies

does it take? My guess is that the studies will keep on coming until

the bridge is approved and built, despite assurances from various

city, county and transportation authority officials that “it will

never happen.”

I hear these assurances from city officials at public meetings

about the bridge, and I read about them in the Daily Pilot. But

public officials come and go, and vetoes can change to approvals as

the political winds shift. So I fear for the future of my quiet

neighborhood, for the safety of children trying to get to school and

for the ability of drivers to safely navigate the already saturated

intersection at Gisler and Harbor (ever been there at rush hour?).

So, whenever another study about the bridge is revived, I will

continue to write letters to the editor and show up at public

meetings to express my opposition. If the past is any indication of

the future, I will be at it until I become a permanent Gisler Avenue

resident, at Harbor Lawn Cemetery.

JON ROWE

Costa Mesa

I’ve always opposed a Gisler Avenue bridge and will continue to do

so as long as I’m on the City Council. And I would also oppose any

expenditure of money for a study of such a bridge. That bridge is not

needed.

CHRIS STEEL

Costa Mesa

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Chris Steel is a Costa Mesa City Councilman who

is running for reelection.

I think a bridge at Gisler Avenue is not needed at all and is a

really bad idea.

Traffic improvements can be made on already existing major streets

to help traffic flow. Cutting a major new route through a quiet

residential neighborhood and past both an elementary school and a

middle school is not the right solution.

Fountain Valley supports this idea because its residents would

benefit from a new bridge -- it is the residents of Costa Mesa in the

Mesa Verde neighborhood who will pay the price in traffic, noise,

pollution and increased danger to their children.

CYNTHIA CORLEY

Costa Mesa

I was rather surprised that the city blessed the Gisler Avenue

bridge study with no public input. If the city is against the bridge,

which, based upon public comment, it should be, why waste taxpayer

money on a study? And don’t give me that line that it is the county’s

money. No matter where the government money comes from, it comes from

my taxes.

If this study is structured in the same manner as the Santa Ana

River Crossing Study, the city will be out $100,000 (our payment for

the study). Why do we even want to consider a bridge that will cut

through one of Costa Mesa’s best neighborhoods and make the traffic

at Harbor Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway an even bigger

nightmare than it already is.

Since football season is getting ready to start, I thought of a

cheer:

O.C.T.A.,

They don’t care what we say,

Give you a bridge,

Give you a train,

Throw your tax money down the drain!

JUDITH BERRY

Costa Mesa