Many of my neighbors and I in the Heights are in opposition to the construction of a six-lane freeway along what is fondly referred to as Mariners’ Mile.
To turn several established neighborhoods upside down to construct a six-lane highway for such a short stretch of land appears to us in Newport Heights, Cliffhaven and Bay Shores as a frivolous act with no discernible benefits to the community or to visitors passing through our neighborhoods.
It is doubtful that these extra lanes will have any effect on traffic flow, while they will turn our “village-like neighborhoods ” upside down, creating dangerous conditions for tourists who want to visit the businesses along the stretch, school children who will have to cross the highway to get to schools in the Heights, and residents who will find their streets used as by-ways to an even greater extent than they are now.
Turning Pacific Coast Highway into six lanes is totally incompatible with revitalizing the Mariners’ Mile Area as a “walkable village type” community, the other goal espoused by the City.
We strongly urge the City of Newport Beach to abandon this unpopular idea.
If you want to find out more about the Coalition to Protect Mariners’ Mile, you can go to the website ProtectMarinersMile.org, where you can sign the petition and get involved in the activities.
Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach
