Santa Ana : Series of Meetings on Westdome Plan Begins

The first in a series of 20 scheduled informational meetings got under way this week for residents in areas bordering the proposed Westdome, a $35-million arena that could bring 18,500 people into the downtown area for professional basketball and other events.

About 30 people from the Washington Square neighborhood to the east of the site showed up at a “briefing session” Tuesday night where City Manager Robert Bobb talked about the project and then fielded questions.

Residents of the north-central neighborhood--located north of 17th Street --met Wednesday night, and another session for the Flower Park neighborhood to the west of the field is scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight at the Police Department annex at Roos Street and Santa Ana Boulevard.

Redevelopment project manager Robyn Simpson stressed that the meetings are not part of the environmental impact report that must be completed before construction of the dome can begin. “It’s really more of a ‘briefing session’ at which the city manager can give residents an introduction to the project,” she said.

Bobb predicted that feared traffic jams before and after arena events could be offset by designating some streets as one-way arteries and using the city’s traffic-signal control system to keep cars flowing smoothly out of the area. He added that road widening will probably not be necessary, although a widening of Bristol Street has been planned for some time.