Mailbag: Place bike lanes on both sides of Coast Highway

Re. “Commentary: Cycling is unsafe in the village,” Sept. 29:

Allen Drucker’s commentary on Corona del Mar cycling was refreshing and inspirational. Having cycled the entire coast of California, I can confirm that the CdM stretch of East Coast Highway is the most dangerous.

However, banning cycling from this stretch of iconic Route 1 is not the answer any more than banning cars is. Bicyclists have as much right to the road as car drivers, motorcyclists and truckers.

As I told the Newport Beach City Council two years ago, what is needed are bicycle lanes on both sides of Coast Highway, the entire length of the city. Start by removing all parking. Then add clearly marked, smooth bike lanes. In the village, add greenery between the lanes and sidewalks. This could be the best thing to happen to CdM in years. Safety is engineered in, not created by posting signs, painting sharrows or promoting cycling.

The recent cyclist deaths should be a wake-up call to the council that it needs to get serious about bike lanes in Newport Beach.

Don Graham

Newport Beach

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Candidate McCarthy

Re. Larry Weichman’s Oct. 5 letter:

Missing from Weichman’s commentary is Colin McCarthy’s involvement in the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Assn.

Could this be why Mr. McCarthy has not stepped up to the plate against the extremely high-priced lawyer contracts the city has now initiated? Rather he has merely acted as a mouthpiece for the council on everything from the proposed charter, to bashing city employees, trying to privatize TeWinkle Park, accepting a weak traffic mitigation agreement for the Banning Ranch project and more.

As head of the Planning Commission, McCarthy was responsible for the “Westside Sweep,” citing almost every resident in the Sunshine homes for minor violations. Apparently, McCarthy thinks the Westside homes are nothing but crap. Do Westside residents need this lack of support? No.

Terri Fuqua

Costa Mesa

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Keep Sacramento out of Costa Mesa

Letting the politicians in Sacramento have the say on every bit of minutiae in Costa Mesa is like having an apartment complex with hundreds of apartments but with all the controls for the TV, the heating and air conditioning, and the hot and cold water for the shower up in the Sacramento penthouse, where a small group of elites will decide what is right for them and then force that on all the other apartment dwellers.

Thank you very much, elites up in the Sacramento penthouse, but I’m an adult and I’ll control my own TV, my own heating and air conditioning, and also the hot and cold water in my shower. You do not know what is best for me, so butt out.

M. H. Millard

Costa Mesa