Local News in Brief : IRVINE : Residents Sue to Block Railroad Overpass
A lawsuit was filed Monday to stop the city from building a $3-million overpass for Yale Avenue at the Santa Fe railroad tracks in central Irvine.
Three Irvine residents who live near the site of the proposed railroad overcrossing filed the suit in Superior Court in Santa Ana. But the effort to block the overcrossing, the subject of an emotional debate in recent months, has the financial backing of Citizens Against Unsafe Traffic in Our Neighborhoods (CAUTION), a group of homeowners.
The group presented petitions with 3,200 signatures opposing the railroad overcrossing and a second overpass on Yale at the San Diego Freeway. But the City Council voted 3 to 2 on Nov. 10 to build the railroad overpass. However, a decision on the freeway overcrossing was postponed.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to halt all planning for the railroad overpass, which the city had hoped to start work on next spring. The suit also seeks a court order requiring the city to conduct a new environmental impact report on the bridge. Opponents of the project say the first report was flawed.
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