3 O.C. Mayors Seek to Revive Light-Rail Plan

Mayors from three of Orange County’s largest cities are trying to revive a proposed $2.3-billion light-rail system halted earlier this year after community and political support crumbled.

Larry Agran of Irvine, Miguel Pulido of Santa Ana and Libby Cowan of Costa Mesa want the Orange County Transportation Authority to resume studying a possible route through their cities for the CenterLine project.

The line, once seen as a cross-county rail network, would connect the commercial, recreation and government districts in the three neighboring cities. The cost, presumed to be less than that for the original rail line, is not known.

“This could be a new beginning,” said Agran, an advocate of light rail who supported the original CenterLine concept. “A tri-city effort could get the analysis underway again. If the system is built, that would be terrific.”

Art Leahy, the authority’s chief executive, shelved the project in February, citing growing opposition from cities, businesses and residents along a proposed alignment that would have stretched 30 miles from Anaheim to Irvine.

Community groups and municipal officials complained that the rail line would destroy neighborhoods, waste tax dollars and do little to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion.

A federally mandated study in 1997 stated that light rail is among the least effective transportation modes, prompting some critics, such as longtime community activist Shirley Grindle, to call CenterLine “a boondoggle.”

In their proposal, the mayors envision a largely elevated line that would start at the Irvine Transportation Center and head west along San Diego Creek to the South Coast Metro area in Costa Mesa. The route would proceed along Anton Boulevard before cutting north on Bristol Street.

At Civic Center Drive, the line would bend east and end at the Santa Ana Transportation Center. The plan includes an optional link to UC Irvine.

If CenterLine is built, the mayors said, they hope other Orange County cities, including those in the original proposal such as Anaheim, Fullerton and Orange, would join the network.

“Rail is effective and an important component in addressing our growing transportation problems,” Agran said.

Agran plans to ask the Irvine City Council on Tuesday to send a letter to the transportation authority requesting it study a light-rail line for Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

He also wants the council to support the suggested route as well as construction of a parking structure at the Irvine Civic Center to accommodate a potential train station.

Pulido and Cowan said they too are planning to address CenterLine at upcoming council meetings.

Costa Mesa “is a small but critical piece of what we see as a good first operating segment for the line,” Cowan said. “This is an essential component of our transportation system.”

Agran initiated discussions with Pulido and Cowan several months ago to see how the three cities might work together. After several meetings, they approached the authority with their ideas.

“This is a major breakthrough,” said Leahy, who halted the CenterLine project as one of his first acts in office. “The fact that they came to us is very illuminating.”

Light-rail critics contend the new proposal could be just as big a waste of money as the original idea. They contend the motivation for resurrecting the light-rail study is a $125-million state grant, money that will be spent elsewhere if the project doesn’t get rolling.