OK Expected on New Arena Parking : Traffic: Anaheim officials plan to turn an orange grove into a lot with 1,150 spaces and provide shuttle service.

In an attempt to alleviate parking problems that have bedeviled the new Anaheim Arena, government officials are planning to add 1,150 parking spaces and a shuttle service for Mighty Duck home games.

The new parking spaces are expected to be approved by the Anaheim City Council today, and the Orange County Transportation Authority has agreed to provided the shuttles for hockey fans.

“The shuttle and the addition of new parking spaces will be a tremendous step toward helping to minimize the inconvenience that people have experienced while parking at the arena,” said John J. Nicoletti, the marketing manager for the facility. “Everyone has been extremely helpful.”

Since the arena’s opening in June, arena and city officials have been scrambling to find ways to find more parking and reduce the traffic congestion before major events. Today, there are about 4,490 parking spaces for the 18,500 seat arena.

According to a city report that is being presented to the council tonight, the owners of a 7.3-acre orange grove on Douglass Road have tentatively agreed to a 55-year lease that will allow the city to build a parking lot.

The council is expected to approve a final version of the agreement with Herb and Ted Douglass and to certify an environmental impact report covering the proposed parking lot. City officials said Monday that they hope the lot will be completed early next year.

Under a draft agreement, the city would begin leasing the property on Oct. 1, paying $9.3 million for the first 25 years. The rent will be paid through proceeds from parking revenue. The rental rates for the next 25 years would be adjusted and based on the market value of the land.

“It certainly brings us closer to the day when there will be convenient parking space for every visitor to the arena,” Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said.

Daly said, however, that the city is still looking for “private entrepreneurs who will pick up the slack” by providing parking on private lots used by businesses in the area.

One agency that has decided to help solve the parking problem is OCTA, which announced plans to provide a shuttle service from seven places in the county for the 41 Mighty Duck home games.

The service will pick up hockey fans at the Mission Viejo Mall, the Laguna Hills Transportation Center, the Newport Transportation Center, Irvine Valley College, the Crystal Court Park and Ride in Costa Mesa, the Old World Village Park and Ride in Huntington Beach, and the OCTA Park and Ride facility in Fullerton.

The shuttle will cost $4 round trip and will arrive 30 minutes before the game. OCTA officials are planning to use five 17-seat vans as the shuttles but will use buses if there is enough demand. For more information about the shuttle service, the public can call (714) 636-RIDE.