Old Train Route Will Get a New Look

County officials have decided to beautify the unsightly right of way that once carried Pacific Electric trains across Orange County, while preserving it for future transportation use.

“This is a very positive step,” Ellen Harvey, a county transportation analyst, said of Thursday’s action by the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors. “It provides us with a framework for . . . the future.”

Once a major transportation corridor, the route now is a 12-mile-by-100-foot strip of dirt and weeds cutting a diagonal swath from Santa Ana to the Los Angeles County line and beyond. Nearby residents walk their dogs along it, joggers use it and area pilots routinely navigate by its line.

The Pacific Electric railroad company began using the line in 1905 for its Red Car trolley system, ferrying passengers between Santa Ana and Los Angeles. By 1950, however, ridership had so dwindled that the service was abandoned.

The OCTA acquired the property in two purchases, beginning in 1982, as a potential rail corridor through northern Orange County. Because of the county’s changing demographics, however, a major study last year eliminated the route from immediate consideration for that purpose. The agency was left with, essentially, a vacant lot traversing Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress and La Palma.

Thursday’s action represents “a commitment to preserve the integrity of the right of way and not chop it up,” said Harvey, who oversaw a six-month study on its future. The study included several public hearings and a survey of about 400 local residents.

Among the findings was that 75% of the respondents favored retaining the strip as a greenbelt. Other ideas included bikeways, playgrounds, trails and roller hockey rinks.

Under the plan approved unanimously and with little discussion on Thursday, any of those options could occur provided that a portion of the right of way is maintained for future use as a transportation corridor.

The plan suggests the improvements be paid for by leasing portions of the right of way for RV storage, Christmas tree lots and the laying of underground fiber-optic cable.

“This gives us a budget to work with,” said Harvey, who estimates new leases could generate as much as $400,000 a year. “We can’t do anything without money.”

To implement the changes, she said, the OCTA will solicit businesses potentially interested in leasing portions of the vacant land, while a task force including representatives from each of the cities involved begins formulating local use plans.

“It’s a step forward,” said Mark Asturias, economic development manager for Garden Grove.

“We have wanted to deal with the right of way for many years.”

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Core Plan for Corridor

Orange County Transportation Authority’s 12- mile- by- 100- foot property will be preserved as a possible right of way. But the eyesore strip will get a new look, possibly including bikeways, playgrounds, trails and roller hockey rinks.