U.S. Frees $5 Million for Light Rail Study
The Federal Transportation Authority has released $5 million for a design and engineering study of light rail in Orange County, Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s office announced this week.
The money, part of which was allocated last year, was held up by a bureaucratic disagreement over whether the entire amount could be provided.
The money was released Wednesday to the Orange County Transportation Authority, said Mauro Morales, legislative director for Sanchez.
County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, an authority director who has lobbied three times in Washington for the funds, said the authority isn’t sold on light rail but is required to study it as part of the voters’ passage of Measure M.
“It’s very exciting,” he said of the federal money. “The future of Orange County may be incredibly impacted by a light rail system. We know we can’t continue to widen roads. We have an obligation to study light rail, to see how this pencils out, looking at the cost per passenger mile compared with building more roads.”
He said the study will focus on where such a rail line would go, where the stations would be, and other design questions, including cost.
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