Costa Mesa streets may stay bumpy

Budget cuts are forcing Costa Mesa to reduce the number of street improvement projects that the city can work on each year, officials say.

Costa Mesa uses part of its general fund budget to rehabilitate about 16 or more streets each year. Rehabilitating the streets involves replacing all the old asphalt.

This year, the city had to lower the number of street projects from 16 to about 13, not only because Costa Mesa isn’t making as much money because of a down economy, but because many of its public services department employees have retired, said Peter Naghavi, director of public services.

The public services department alone, which uses some of its staff to work on street improvement projects lost 16 employees, who retired after taking advantage of the early retirement program offered to them by the city to balance its budget.

The department is replacing half of those who retired, but that hasn’t taken effect yet, Naghavi said.

The city also matches funds it receives from Measure M Turnback, which are funds coming through the Orange County Transportation Authority, to rehab streets like Sunflower, Tustin and Orange avenues.

This year, the city doesn’t expect to receive as many grants needed to complete street projects, Naghavi said.

The city is also likely to keep the number of street projects to 12 next year, Naghavi said.

Rehabilitation on St. Clair, from Bear Street to Velasco Lane, and Tahiti, from Mesa Verde West to Java Road, were scheduled this year, but were put on hold because of lack of funding.

However, Naghavi said, the city might be able to work on more streets if the economy improves and if the city receives more funding.

Streets In Need

The following are street projects Costa Mesa is working on, using $600,000 from its general fund.

Vassar Place

Oak Street

Fairway Place

20th Street

Republic Avenue

Pine Place

Mendoza Drive

Garden Lane

Fairway Drive

Georgia Place

Congress Street

Cedar Place