SANTA ANA : City to Obtain Loan to Widen Street

The City Council this week unanimously agreed to apply for a $20-million federal loan to begin the first stages of the city’s ambitious $335-million Bristol Street widening project.

The loan would be repaid in 20 years, with annual payments of about $2 million from the city’s Community Development Block Grant funds.

The loan approval process is expected to take up to 90 days, said Cynthia Nelson, executive director of the city’s Community Development Agency.

City officials said obtaining the loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would enable the city to speed the pace of the project and bring more immediate improvements to the area.

“If we don’t do something like this, we have the potential to be sitting around for a long time doing nothing,” Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr. said. “This is an opportunity to send a strong message across the city that we’re doing everything we can.”

Mayor Daniel H. Young agreed.

“Many people have said, ‘You went through all that trouble to set up a redevelopment area--now what?’ ” Young said. “This (plan) ingeniously puts us in an excellent position to get the Bristol project started. I’m hoping to see some significant acquisition work next year and even some clearing.”

The loan may also come as good news to several property owners who have been placed in limbo by the project. “If we’re able to secure the loan funds, we’ll be able to make offers to those owners,” Nelson said.

City officials hope that the Bristol Corridor Redevelopment Project will transform what is one of the county’s most congested streets into a parkway that includes landscaped buffers and rehabilitated businesses.

The plan targets about 783 acres along a 3.9-mile stretch of Bristol Street between Warner Avenue and just north of Santa Clara Avenue, and will widen the street from four lanes to six.

More than 100 businesses and 236 housing units will be relocated to make room for landscaping and new businesses.