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Home My WebLink About17 - 19th Street Bridgep SEW PART CITY OF NE;1IV/ SORT REA CH City Council Staff Report Agenda Item No. 17 February 28, 2012 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM:' City Manager's Office Dave Kiff, City Manager 949 - 644 -3002, dkiff @newportbeachca.gov PREPARED BY: Dave Kiff, City Manager APPROVED: "/l.nlh vl TITLE: 19`h Street Bridge: Request for a SARX Study Update ABSTRACT: Council Member Daigle has asked the City to consider sending a letter to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) asking OCTA to work with the City's Public Works staff to summarize recommended mitigation measures to local traffic if the 19th Street Bridge over the Santa Ana River was removed from the Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH) and the City's General Plan. RECOMMENDATION: Authorize Mayor Gardner to send the attached letter to OCTA. FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: There is no fiscal impact related to this specific letter, but depending on the detail of the study update, additional resources may be required. DISCUSSION: The ,19th Street Bridge" would link the end of 191h Street at the edge of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to Huntington Beach, crossing the Santa Ana River (see attached diagram). The bridge has been envisioned in both the Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH) as well as the City's General Plan. A meeting on January 5, 2012 in Huntington Beach has renewed interest in the bridge — more specifically, interest in deleting the bridge from the MPAH — but doing so would have its own impacts for Newport Beach. In the mid 1990s, OCTA teamed with the cities of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, to prepare a cooperative study of the missing MPAH river crossings (this was called the Santa Ana River Crossing or "SARX" Study). The SARX Study spelled out several mitigation options which would allow the 19th Street Bridge: Request for a SARX Study Update February 28, 2012 Page 2 successful deletion of these crossings from the MPAH. The status of the Gisler Avenue crossing between Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley was resolved, but the 19th Street crossing remains unresolved. To better understand "where we left off`with the SARX Study, as well as the impacts of removing the 191h Street Bridge crossing from the MPAH, Council Member Daigle has asked the City to work with OCTA to provide an update of the SARX study — primarily to identify recommended measures to mitigate the transportation /traffic impacts of deleting the bridge from the MPAH. If that issue is being examined, Public Works staff suggests that at some point in time, the City, neighboring communities, and OCTA may want to examine Newport Beach traffic impacts in a broader context that considers all of the possible and /or pending changes to the MPAH, including but not limited to: • The 55 extension (cut and cover tunnel) through Costa Mesa; • The elimination or modification of one or both of the planned arterial connections to West Coast Highway through Newport Banning Ranch; • The elimination of the planned arterial connections between 191h and Victoria along the Santa Ana River. This agenda item does not bind the City of Newport Beach to remove the 19`h Street Bridge from the MPAH. Diagram 1 — Location of Proposed 191" Street Bridge a 19th Street Bridge: Request for a SARX Study Update February 28, 2012 Page 3 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: While future steps relating to the 1g`h Street Bridge are certainly likely to involve CEQA review, sending this letter does not. Therefore, staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. NOTICING: The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item). Submitted by: Lk-n Dav Kiff City Manager Attachments: A. Proposed Letter to OCTA 3 19th Street Bridge: Request for a SARX Study Update February 28, 2012 Page 4 February 29, 2012 Mr. Will Kempton, CEO Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) P.O. Box 14184 Orange, CA 92863 -1584 RE: Analysis of Impacts relating to the MPAH and the 19`h Street Bridge Dear Mr. Kempton: This letter respectfully requests your staff's assistance in working with our Public Works Department to conduct an update of the Santa Ana River Crossings (SARX) study which would summarize where we last left off in identifying mitigation measures for the traffic - related impacts on Newport Beach should the proposed 191h Street Bridge over the Santa Ana River be removed from the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). The update need not be exhaustive, but it should effectively summarize the mitigation measures, options and alternatives available to us should the Bridge be deleted from the MPAH. Likely not a part of this specific update, but similarly important, OCTA and the SARX cities might also want to review other possible changes to the MPAH that may be under consideration, including but not limited to: The 55 extension through Costa Mesa; The elimination or modification of one or both of the planned arterial connections to West Coast Highway through Newport Banning Ranch; and The elimination of the planned arterial connections between 191h and Victoria along the Santa Ana River. We welcome the participation of other neighboring communities in this effort should that be desirable by OCTA and those cities. We look forward to working with your staff in this regard. Sincerely, NANCY GARDNER Mayor of Newport Beach cc: Members of the Newport Beach City Council The Honorable Paul Glaab, Chairman of OCTA The Honorable John M. W. Moorlach, Supervisor, District #2 Mayor Nancy Gardner Mayor Pro Tern Keith D. Curry Council Members Leslie J. Daigle Michael F. Henn Rush N. Hill, II Steven J. Rosansky Edward D. Selich CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH OFFICE OF THE MAYOR February 29, 2012 Mr. Will Kempton, CEO Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) P.O. Box 14184 Orange, CA 92863 -1584 RE: Analysis of Impacts relating to the MPAH and the 19th Street Bridge Dear Mr. Kempton: This letter respectfully requests your staff's assistance in working with our Public Works Department to conduct an update of the Santa Ana River Crossings (SARX) study which would summarize where we last left off in identifying mitigation measures for the traffic- related impacts on Newport Beach should the proposed 19th Street Bridge over the Santa Ana River be removed from the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). The update need not be exhaustive, but it should effectively summarize the mitigation measures, options and alternatives available to us should the Bridge be deleted from the MPAH. Likely not a part of this specific update, but similarly important, OCTA and the SARX cities might also want to review other possible changes to the MPAH that may be under consideration, including but not limited to: • The 55 extension through Costa Mesa; • The elimination or modification of one or both of the planned arterial connections to West Coast Highway through Newport Banning Ranch; and • The elimination of the planned arterial connections between 19th and Victoria along the Santa Ana River. We welcome the participation of other neighboring communities in this effort should that be desirable by OCTA and those cities. We look forward to working with your staff in this regard. Mayor of/Newport Beach cc: Members of the Newport Beach City Council The Honorable Paul Glaab, Chairman of OCTA The Honorable John M. W. Moorlach, Supervisor, District #2 City Hall • 3300 Newport Boulevard • Post Office Box 1768 Newport Beach, California 92658 -8915 • www.newportbeachca.gov (949) 644 -3004