Countywide : District Reaches Accord to Buy Railroad’s Lands

After 2 1/2 years of negotiations, the Orange County Transit District has reached an agreement with the Southern Pacific railroad to buy a five-mile, 29.3-acre strip of rail line adjacent to the Santa Ana Freeway for $12,735,000.

Existing tracks will be removed so that the land can be used to double the width of the freeway from six lanes to 12 lanes, with a separate transit way for buses and car pools in the median. The strip extends from Pacifico Avenue in Anaheim to Washington Street in Santa Ana.

Work on the transit way is scheduled to begin in 1991.

Acquiring the railroad land will eliminate the need for a costlier structure, elevated on pillars, in the median.

The acquisition also means fewer businesses next to the freeway will have to be removed for a freeway widening project.

The purchase agreement is scheduled to be ratified by transit district directors at Monday’s regularly scheduled board meeting in Garden Grove. If approved, the acquisition will be completed by Oct. 15, transit agency officials said.

Southern Pacific Transportation Co. is negotiating to switch its trains to an alternate route owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. The transit district has agreed to pay $816,000 to Santa Fe to modify its tracks so they can handle Southern Pacific trains and equipment.