27-Mile Route for Light Rail Moves Ahead

Transit officials on Thursday took the first concrete step toward building a light-rail system by endorsing a $1.5-billion, 27-mile line that would snake through the center of Orange County, but opponents say they will fight the route through their cities.

The CenterLine would run along elevated and street-level tracks between downtown Fullerton and the Irvine Metrolink station, and make 33 stops, including such popular destinations as Edison Field, the Pond at Anaheim and John Wayne Airport.

The recommended alignment, which could see further tweaks before a decision on the future of light rail is made by Orange County Transportation Authority board members Dec. 13, didn’t appease critics, who say it’s both a waste of money and threatens businesses and residential neighborhoods.

At issue, in part, is the decision to run the line down more than six miles of two busy major streets in Santa Ana, leading local residents and business owners to complain that traffic will be diverted into neighborhoods and parking will be eliminated.

Some groups have taken their criticisms directly to local officials in the hopes that they will block the project through their six cities--Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, Costa Mesa and Irvine--any of which could halt the entire line.

“We definitely need all the cities to buy into the project,” said OCTA spokesman Dave Simpson. “We can’t do it without them, but we believe we have that support.”

In Santa Ana, though, city officials say they continue to have serious doubts about the light-rail system, which would serve as estimated 60,000 riders a day.

“We have major concerns about the way the project stands now,” said Manuel Gomez, assistant to the city manager. “We are not at all satisfied that our questions have been answered.”

Santa Ana officials are scheduled to release their recommendation on light rail next week, Gomez said, and City Council members will vote later this month on whether to support the project.

Besides the noise and traffic it would generate, some question whether another rail system even makes sense in Orange County, where only a few thousand riders regularly use Metrolink. Beyond that, the $1.5 billion it will take to build the system strikes many as too high a price for the impact it would make on a heavily burdened freeway system.

About half of the construction cost will be funded by local and state tax dollars. But the remaining funds are far from assured: the federal government won’t make a final decision about the project until officials see the system’s design and plans, still six months away, transit officials have said.

The $1.5 billion doesn’t even take into account some funding needed for other improvements unrelated to construction of the rail line itself, such as an estimated $175 million in needed road widening along the path. Transit officials have the option of shortening the system if funding falls short.

“We’re at the point where we have a really quality system,” said Dave Elbaum, OCTA director of planning and development. “It addresses most of the concerns we’ve heard from the residents and cities, stopping near the biggest employers and most interesting attractions in the county.”

The December vote, if approved, would give the go-ahead for $30 million for initial design and environmental review of the system. Construction on the project could begin as soon as late next year, with the first segment of the system scheduled to be completed in 2007-08. The complete 27-mile system wouldn’t be in operation until 2016.

Proponents say that with most area freeways widened as much as possible, a booming county population will need all the transportation choices they can get.

The process by which transit officials have studied light rail was the subject of a scathing report released by the Orange County Grand Jury in May, which accused transit officials of cheerleading rail rather than doing an aggressive analysis.

Lisa Mills, OCTA’s chief executive officer, and county Supervisor Tom Wilson, the board’s chair, said the grand jury investigation did not take into account all the work that had really been done. And, they pointed out, Orange County voters mandated that light rail be studied when they approved Measure M in 1990, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements.

For those who live near the proposed rail line, the recommended route is not welcome.

Paula Manning, a resident of the Park Santiago community in Santa Ana, which is adjacent to the line down Main Street, said she and others feel their concerns have not been answered. Park Santiago residents were to meet with Santa Ana City Council members Wednesday night about the issue.

“I don’t think the OCTA is seriously concerned about any of the residents in Santa Ana,” Manning said.

The Park Santiago neighborhood was one of four, with Sand Pointe in Santa Ana, Culverdale in Irvine and areas along Chapman Avenue, cited by transit officials as raising significant opposition to the project.

But the project has support in other areas. Irvine officials, for example, voted to abandon a proposed monorail system for Irvine Spectrum in favor of using the $120 million available for CenterLine improvements in their city.

Another public hearing on the proposal will be held Nov. 22, and in the interim the six cities included in the route are expected to make their feelings about the project known.

Garden Grove Mayor Bruce Broadwater, whose city was bypassed on the route despite years of working with transit officials on the project, said he remains unconvinced that light rail will work in the county, particularly along the alignment that has been selected.

“They might as well call it yuppie rail,” he said. “This is a system that takes people to shopping malls, not to business centers.”

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Light Rail Proposal

Orange County transit officials will recommend a 27-mile, $1.5 billion light rail system be built through the heart of the county. The line, which combines both elevated and street-level tracks, will have 33 stops, including popular destinations, such as The Pond at Anaheim, South Coast Plaza and John Wayne Airport.

Source: Orange County Transportation Authority