Macarthur Boulevard

Dear Street Smart: I am writing to inquire about why the condition of MacArthur Boulevard is in such a state of disrepair from the new Newport Coast Road heading west to San Joaquin Hills Road. The conditions on this road have been miserable for more than a year and I can't believe the city of Newport Beach is not making an effort to repair the road. For all the people who must use this thoroughfare to commute to Newport Beach daily, I would appreciate your help in answering my question.

A U.S. Marine who was allegedly drunk when he plowed his vehicle into a car at a stop light at 75 mph and killed a Newport Beach radiologist was indicted Wednesday by an Orange County grand jury on murder charges. Lance Cpl. Elijah Leigh Ferguson, 22, is accused of ramming his Dodge Caliber into the back of an Aston Martin driven by Michael Sein, 63, on Feb. 22, 2008, at MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road. Sein died of head injuries. His wife, Grace, was seriously injured. Ferguson was treated for a broken ankle.

Dear Street Smart: I want an update on an issue that I know you have covered before--the lane width on northbound MacArthur Boulevard north of Ford Road where Irvine and Newport Beach adjoin. I know that Caltrans said it was planning on taking care of it later. When is later? You should understand that Caltrans recently widened MacArthur Boulevard down the hill 100 yards or so, and it is three lanes wide from there all the way to the San Diego Freeway.

A woman found dead and packed in dry ice at an upscale hotel near John Wayne Airport has been identified as Monique Felicia Trepp of Huntington Beach, a police spokesman said Saturday. No further information was available on how she died or how long her body had been in the hotel room, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Scott McKnight. Trepp, 33, was found late Thursday after police arrested Stephen David Royds, 46, on suspicion of possessing and selling cocaine at the Fairmont Hotel on MacArthur Boulevard.

Add to your collection of Orange County street enigmas the two intersections of MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street--one in Irvine and one in Santa Ana--the same streets and the two intersections only about a mile apart. L.F. PEASE Irvine

Major road improvement projects have begun on MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street, snarling traffic around John Wayne Airport. Work on the multimillion-dollar projects will continue through next year, but officials said they are taking measures to lessen the impact on motorists. Workers are widening the road, building median islands and rehabilitating the pavement on MacArthur Boulevard, said Tom Mazzola, Irvine's principal project engineer.

Road closures and repair work on freeways and surface streets: Online help: Freeway traffic information is also available on the Caltrans World Wide Web site. It updates every minute. The address is: http://www.scubed.com/caltrans/ Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) * At Alton Parkway: Various lanes will be closed in each direction between Alton Parkway and the El Toro Y from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily through January.

I live in a quiet residential neighborhood that borders on MacArthur Boulevard next to its termination at Coast Highway. I have hoped for 10 years that the unsightly mess on the other side of MacArthur Boulevard that is an unfinished portion of Newport Center would be completed. The remnants of temporary buildings, trash bins, piles of dirt, crumpled pavement and weeds remain an ugly scar in a city of great beauty. A special election will be held on Nov. 25 to allow the public at large to vote on the plan for the build-out of Newport Center.

A teen-age driver died Saturday two hours after his silver Pontiac Firebird skidded across a road divider and collided with another car on MacArthur Boulevard. Two other people were also injured in the crash, which happened about 10:30 a.m. near an off-ramp of the Corona del Mar Freeway. Irvine police said passing motorists tried to revive Michael A. Bonomo, 18, the Pontiac driver, but he died later at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana from head and chest injuries.

Road closures and repair work on freeways and surface streets: Online help: Freeway traffic information is also available on the Caltrans World Wide Web site. It updates every minute. The address is: http://www.scubed.com/caltrans/ Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) * At Alton Parkway: Various lanes will be closed in each direction between Alton Parkway and the El Toro Y from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily through January.

Dear Street Smart: I travel to work going south on MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach. Between Ford Road and Newport Coast Drive, there are very large potholes that have not been repaired for weeks. My back windshield shattered as a result of hitting a pothole. When will Caltrans repair the potholes? Also, what is their address to write to them about the $300 cost to repair the back windshield? Edward M. Hepner Newport Beach During the storms this winter, a lot of potholes cropped up on all state highways, including MacArthur Boulevard, Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem said.

Dear Street Smart: I have two questions about the car-pool lane on the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway. When will the potholes between MacArthur and Warner be repaired? They have been there since last rainy season. Second, there used to be a car-pool exit for 17th Street. Are there any plans to stripe it and add it back? Diane Lissner Santa Ana Car-pool lanes on both sides of the Costa Mesa Freeway in the area between MacArthur Boulevard and Warner Avenue are slated for a long-term rehabilitation project, said Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman.

Dear Street Smart: I want an update on an issue that I know you have covered before--the lane width on northbound MacArthur Boulevard north of Ford Road where Irvine and Newport Beach adjoin. I know that Caltrans said it was planning on taking care of it later. When is later? You should understand that Caltrans recently widened MacArthur Boulevard down the hill 100 yards or so, and it is three lanes wide from there all the way to the San Diego Freeway.

I found your article on losing your way in Orange County (Orange County Life, Nov. 5) most interesting and timely. Congratulations! But in your listing you missed what I consider the biggest confusion of all. Just north of the Orange County Airport there are two main intersections of principal streets--Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard. They cross twice within a mile of each other. Just try to meet someone at that corner, or to turn left or right at that corner--it's opposite direction each time!

A Santa Ana man was killed Tuesday night in an accident at an intersection in Irvine, police said, and a passenger in the van remains hospitalized today. The name of the 45-year-old man who died was not immediately released pending notification of his relatives. Irvine police said the accident happened at 10 p.m. Tuesday when the driver of the van ran a red light and broadsided a car. The van flipped over at MacArthur Boulevard and Michelson Drive. The injured passenger was identified as Jose Velasquez, 24, of Santa Ana. He was taken to Western Medical Center of Santa Ana with minor head injuries.

Dear Street Smart: The small signs marking entry onto MacArthur Boulevard from University Drive are totally inadequate for both north and southbound traffic. The signs are placed too close to their respective ramps to give enough advance notice of the imminent turnoff, and they are not clearly legible even at close range.

A teen-age driver died Saturday two hours after his silver Pontiac Firebird skidded across a road divider and collided with another car on MacArthur Boulevard. Two other people were also injured in the crash, which happened about 10:30 a.m. near an off-ramp of the Corona del Mar Freeway. Irvine police said passing motorists tried to revive Michael A. Bonomo, 18, the Pontiac driver, but he died later at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana from head and chest injuries.