Budget delays jam road project

With California coming close to setting a record for the most delayed budget in state history, Costa Mesa is starting to feel the consequences.

A $1 million grant that the city needs to widen Newport Boulevard early next year has been withheld by the state until a budget is approved. The project would add an extra lane going each way to the highway in an attempt to relieve traffic on the corridor, which currently serves an estimated 100,000 motorists daily.

Most of the money for the construction, which carries a total price tag of $7 million, is coming from Costa Mesa, but Public Services Director Peter Naghavi says it would be impossible to complete the project without the $1 million state contribution. He is optimistic that eventually the funds will be delivered, though, and believes the city will be able to start construction as planned in January.

“I don’t think that [the state would take away the money altogether] because many local agencies would raise hell,” Naghavi said.

Costa Mesa is not the only city to have a project sidelined because of the budget stalemate. As Democrats and Republicans in the Assembly try to figure out a mutually acceptable way to make up for the $15-million budget shortfall, all road construction projects awaiting funding are out of luck.

“All projects are on hold because of the budget at this time. Any upcoming projects waiting for funding will have to wait,” said Glenda Dobbins, a spokeswoman for Caltrans.

So far, the budget disputes have not sapped the funding from any other Costa Mesa efforts, according to City Manager Allan Roeder, but City Council members and city staff are apprehensive. Plans to deal with the budget gap have been plentifully suggested by legislators, and there has been talk of possibly cutting city funding.

At the last council meeting, Roeder said every city expense was potentially on the table for cuts if the state took away money.

“Before a program or service was discontinued, we’d bring it forward and discuss it first to find out if we had a way to fund it locally,” Roeder said.

The effort to widen Newport Boulevard is supposed to address the added 15,000 daily motorists expected to travel the road in the next 15 to 20 years. It will take an estimated nine months to complete and most of the construction will go on at night.

“It’s a large project, so there will be some traffic impact, but we’re going to try to minimize it as best as possible,” Naghavi said.

The city has also been considering a larger-scale remodeling of the 55 Freeway, which is still being studied.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.