Macarthur Boulevard

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.

The MacArthur Boulevard entrance to John Wayne Airport will be closed for eight hours beginning at 10 p.m. Monday, an airport official said. Spokeswoman Sharon Esterley said the relocation of a storm drain would force the closing of the entrance until 6 a.m. the following day. She said the same entrance would be closed on Tuesday from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. if the work is not completed the previous day.

I would like to thank all of the people who, on June 5, risked their lives to save mine. I was involved in a serious automobile accident on the Costa Mesa Freeway at MacArthur Boulevard. My car hit the center divider head-on and flipped upside down in the fast lane. Within seconds a man ran across four lanes of 6 p.m. rush-hour traffic to come to my aid. A woman trained as an E.M.T. (an emergency medical technician) put a sweat shirt on me, another man set out flares, and another called the paramedics on a special walkie-talkie.

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.

I recently viewed on cable TV a presentation of the Irvine Co.'s plans for completion of Newport Center. I, like many others, have had concerns about the traffic that will accompany the planned residential and office buildings. As I viewed the meeting and heard about their plans to address the traffic problems in Newport Beach, I was impressed with the commitment the Irvine Co. demonstrated toward a resolution of both local and regional traffic impacts. For example, it is anticipated that a least one-third of all traffic currently using Pacific Coast Highway through Corona del Mar will be diverted around Corona del Mar by Pelican Hill Road, a six-lane highway to be constructed by the Irvine Co. They also plan to widen major arterials as required by the City of Newport Beach and will provide landscaping of both Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

Pelican Hill Road and the San Joaquin Hill Road connection will divert thousands of cars around Corona del Mar. These roads would be a boon to Corona del Mar, and let no one tell you differently. This north-south artery was available five years ago until a similar referendum stopped the completion of Newport Center-Fashion Island. Traffic conditions have worsened year by year not because the Irvine Co. completed Newport Center but because of development occurring outside Newport Beach and there is no route available other than Pacific Coast Highway and MacArthur Boulevard.

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 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.