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Failed negotiations result in traffic problems The city of Mission Viejo is undergoing the monumental task of dealing with our traffic issues, starting with Crown Valley Parkway. The task has become necessary because of bad planning and flawed judgment on the part of the current and prior city councils. Their efforts were futile in mitigating traffic from developments east of our city. Case in point, as a mitigation measure for approval of the new ranch plan, estimates ranged between $35 million and $75 million for traffic improvements in the southern part of Mission Viejo. The prior planning commission had recommended to the city council a lawsuit preventing the approval of the ranch plan because its proposed mitigation money was based on inconclusive traffic studies authored by the ranch consultants. The city did follow through to a point with a lawsuit, which was structured as a result of a joint planning commission and city council meeting. The lawsuit was dropped after Councilmen Frank Ury and Lance MacLean, while serving on an ad hoc committee, negotiated on their own the mitigation measures with the ranch. The ranch jumped on the proposed settlement of $18 million as opposed to prior estimates of $35 million to $75 million for real solutions. I have yet to hear of any plan in which $18 million would be sufficient to handle the traffic expected when the ranch is built out. The city did, however, get two new monuments on the Crown Valley Parkway bridge, under construction, and Mission Hospital is constructing an elaborate art monument on Crown Valley Parkway. It is difficult to imagine that the shortfall of up to $50 million won’t result in long-term traffic problems. The problems are the legacy of Ury and MacLean. The city is getting some nice art monuments, but the negotiations were a monumental failure in finding long-term traffic solutions for our city. Bo Klein |
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