SANTA ANA : School District to Discuss Bridge Plans

The Santa Ana Unified School District will host a public hearing July 12 to discuss whether to support construction of a controversial Caltrans pedestrian bridge project, which residents say would increase crime in their neighborhood.

The meeting will be at Hoover Elementary School, 408 E. Santa Clara Ave., at 7 p.m., district spokeswoman Diane Thomas said.

Caltrans is building the bridge across the Santa Ana Freeway at 20th Street to replace a pedestrian tunnel that once went under the freeway. That tunnel was demolished as a part of Caltrans’ freeway widening project.

The crossing is intended to benefit 170 schoolchildren who live west of the freeway and attend Hoover Elementary School, located east of the freeway. Caltrans officials have indicated that they would kill the project if the board requests its demise.

District officials have recommended that the board support completion of the bridge. Otherwise, children would be forced to walk another half-mile on a busy street to get to school and the district could be liable if children were injured on their way to the campus.

The board recently heard from about 100 residents who opposed the project. They said the bridge would increase crime by giving criminals an escape route that could frustrate police attempting to pursue them in cars.

However, board members said they were uneasy about taking a formal position until hearing from the parents whose children would use the bridge.