The OC

Trumpeting the dubious claim that the answer to regional car congestion is funding highway expansion, Orange County politicians and press are celebrating the federal government's decision to allocate $68 million in stimulus funds for the expansion of the I-91 between Riverside County and the 241 Toll Road.  As we've seen in the past, the governments claims that road widenings are good public policy go completely unchallenged in the press even as the state tries to devise no ways to battle sprawl development.

Around the country, many of our largest transit agencies are dealing with massive deficits by cutting back service and laying off employees.  New York City Streetsblog has pretty much been devoted to round-the-clock coverage of NYCMTA's proposed cuts, the politics behind them and the effort to stop them.

Yesterday, the media reacted with horror to the news that Mixed Martial Arts and reality television star Charles "Mask" Lewis died after a particularly gruesome and spectacular crash between his Ferrari and a Porsche in Newport Beach. After reading the Times' coverage of the story, it's clear that this crash was completely avoidable if we had a justice system that prioritized taking unsafe drivers off the road. The driver of the Porsche that allegedly caused the crash has a long history of violating traffic laws, but was still free to cruise Orange County roads:

Rendering of Project Produced by the Save San Onofre Coalition

Yesterday, Orange County Planners and Toll Road advocates had "their day in court" at a public hearing in front of federal officials who they hope will overturn a state decision stopping construction of $1.3-billion extension of California 241 in Orange County.  After the California Coastal Commission sided with opponents of the road stopped the project, which would cut through San Onofre State Beach, the state created Transportation Corridors Association appealed to the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to overturn the state decision.

The Transportation Corridors Agency, an organization founded in the 1980's to help build more highways through privatization,  has thus far been stymied by local opposition from building a sixteen mile freeway extension for the I-241 through San Onorfre State Park by a coalition of environmentalists, surfers, concerned citizens and civil rights advocates.  From packing a 14 hour hearing on the project with over 3,500 opponents of the widening to lobbying government officials, the groundswell against the extension project in conservative Orange County has been impressive and effective.

Back in December, Hunting Beach Planning Commissioner Joe Shaw wrote an op/ed for Street Heat about the challenges in trying to do smart growth planning in the O.C.  Now that Shaw is a candidate for Huntington Beach City Council, it seemed like a good time to blow the dust off this excellent piece for all the readers that have joined us in 2008.

The Coyote Creek Bike Trail, Our Only Hope to Improve Connectivity Between the OC and LA