CenterLine Was Right, So What Went Wrong?

In the movie “Broadcast News,” Holly Hunter’s character (Jane) is upset with her boss for not choosing Albert Brooks’ character (Aaron) to produce a particular television news segment. When Jane is arguing with her boss about his decision, the boss says to her, “It must be rough to be right all the time and know more than anyone else.” Jane, in all sincerity, replies, ‘Yes, you don’t know how rough it is.”

Unfortunately, for the last several years, the Orange County Transportation Authority has planned its CenterLine light-rail project as if we knew more than anyone else, including the residents and cities along its proposed corridor. It may have taken us a while, and we learned the hard way, but that is not how one successfully gains consensus on a major public works project.

The planning of the CenterLine project was part of our commitment to the voters who gave their approval of Measure M in 1990. Measure M promised a program of balanced transportation improvements. The purpose was to provide a wide range of travel choices and to provide a high-capacity transit option in the central part of the county where housing and employment density levels are significantly high.

OCTA conducted hundreds of meetings, made at least as many public presentations and produced volumes of informational materials, both pro and con, regarding public transit. There were open houses, direct mailings and community events. In 1999, surveys demonstrated that a vast majority of Orange County residents, as well as residents from each city within the proposed CenterLine corridor, supported the project.

So where did we go wrong? How could we not possibly build the consensus that is needed to go forward with a project of this magnitude? The answer is simple. No one, and I mean no one, took ownership of the project.

From the beginning, we should have reached out more proactively to the public, elected officials, local business and community leaders, homeowner associations, the transit-dependent, the environmental community and potentially affected individuals.

Because we did not, a small group of project opponents--the only ones who seemed to have had the project on their radar screen--managed to paint themselves as a “voice of reason” in their effort to kill the project. They argued that a light-rail system would be heavily taxpayer subsidized and, standing alone in and of itself, would not alleviate Orange County’s traffic congestion problems.

OCTA, unfortunately, failed to successfully counter with the following simple fact: The charge of OCTA is not to move cars but to move people. Transportation dollars are not just about roads or trains or buses but about where we’re going as an entire society.

Because we didn’t seem to accomplish that goal, misinformation was disseminated that seemed to have no end. A perfect example was in the Colony section of Anaheim, a beautiful historic district. It was asserted that CenterLine would be “noisy,” “unsightly” and “unsafe.”

In reality, however, light-rail transportation is quieter, cleaner and safer than automobile travel. Across America, similar neighborhoods have seen revitalization, due in part to a successful rail project. In Portland, real estate agents actually advertise the proximity of the rail line on lawn “for sale” signs. Regionally, the residents of the historic city of Pasadena have been waiting and fighting for the extension of the Blue Line. In fact, property values along the Blue Line extension have escalated as much as 100% during this past year.

Downtown Anaheim could see a rebirth with the right combination of transportation and land-use planning. With a little vision and attention, the city could offer residents another location to shop, dine and stroll besides Disneyland.

Unfortunately, there has been a serious disconnect between OCTA and the proposed corridor cities on how to plan for their transit future. We need to bridge land use and transportation planning by working hand-in-hand with both cities and the private sector.

I don’t believe the CenterLine project is dead. OCTA needs to go back to our neighborhoods and start listening, educating and exchanging ideas. If the residents and businesses that will benefit the most from the CenterLine start believing that their questions can be answered, their concerns alleviated and that they will have ownership of the project, then and only then can we proceed.

The day after OCTA’s new CEO made his recommendation to temporarily not go forward with the CenterLine project into the preliminary engineering stage, several neighborhoods in the county celebrated their role in that decision. It is my hope, however, that through developing a partnership with these neighborhoods, one day we will be celebrating with them the successful implementation of a much-needed, high-quality transportation project that will serve them and their community for many years to come.