Countywide : Transit Officials Weigh Bid for Right of Way
Orange County transportation officials on Monday will consider notifying Southern Pacific Transportation Co. of their intent to buy a 5-mile stretch of abandoned right of way from the railroad for future use by commuter trains.
However, a letter drafted by the Orange County Transportation Commission makes it clear that money for the purchase would be available only if Orange County voters approve a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund transit and highway projects.
The commission has been preparing for a November sales tax election but may postpone such balloting until June of 1990.
The Orange County Transit District already owns about 3 miles of the same right of way, from Raitt Street in Santa Ana to Beach Boulevard in Buena Park. Southern Pacific owns the remaining stretch from Beach Boulevard to downtown Los Angeles.
The 5-mile segment eyed by OCTC would permit a transit-rail connection between Orange County and the Century Freeway rail transit line and the Los Angeles-Long Beach light rail line, at a point near Norwalk where all three systems would come together.
The Transportation Commission is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Monday in the county Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.
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