CenterLine Could Be a ‘Fiscal Black Hole,’ Critics Say

Calling the proposed CenterLine project a waste of public funds, a group of 21 government leaders from throughout Orange County asked transit officials Friday to withdraw their support for the $1.5-billion light-rail system.

“CenterLine threatens to become a fiscal black hole, draining off funds needed just to maintain and upgrade our current transportation infrastructure,” the group wrote in a petition-style letter sent to the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Signing the request were mayors and council members from 10 cities, including Anaheim, Garden Grove, Tustin, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Dana Point.

Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach, Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine), and retired state Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange) also signed the demand letter.

“We would like OCTA to cancel the project and start spending money on things that will actually relieve congestion,” said Anaheim Councilman Tom Tate, who drafted the opposition letter.

Supporters, however, said many county leaders support the plan to lay 11.4 miles of rail through Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana with stops at UC Irvine, the Irvine Business Complex, John Wayne Airport, South Coast Plaza and the Santa Ana train station.

The line would have about 22,000 daily passengers during its first year, according to OCTA estimates, growing to roughly 32,000 a day after 15 years.

OCTA directors will decide whether to move forward with the project after an engineering study.

If so, CenterLine rail could be rolling by 2011.

As room for new freeways vanishes, light rail will be needed to meet transportation demands, supporters say.

Although construction costs are high, they contend that light rail is more convenient for riders and less costly to operate than conventional buses.

So far, there has been strong support for CenterLine on the authority’s board of directors and on the councils of the three cities where the line would run. Other cities are interested in acquiring extensions of the system if the first leg is built.

“We have 92 council members in 18 cities who have supported the project,” said Cypress City Councilman Tim Keenan, who chairs the OCTA board.

“We have done polling that shows wide community support.”

The letter suggests that rail cost estimates may be overly optimistic and it questions whether spending $1.5 billion is appropriate given CenterLine’s projected ridership and the $14-million annual operating cost.

“Since both construction and operational costs of such systems nationwide have been notoriously much higher than originally projected, the true costs could be even more staggering,” the letter says.

The money used for CenterLine would drain funds from more effective transportation projects, such as highway improvements and better, more innovative bus service, opponents said.

“A fixed rail system will be a money pit,” said Tustin Mayor Tracy Worley, who signed the letter.

“This will never link the county’s 34 cities, it is so darn expensive.”

If federal money is not spent on CenterLine, OCTA officials warn that it will be spent on proposed light-rail systems in other cities, denying the county its share of federal support.

They say hundreds of millions of dollars have been earmarked for highway and street improvements as well as expanding bus service by 50% over the next five years.

“The opponents are supporting failed methods. They are just naysayers,” said Debbie Cook, a council member in Huntington Beach, which is interested in an extension of CenterLine.

“I don’t want to see Orange County left in the dust.”

OCTA officials worry that continued political conflict over CenterLine could jeopardize its chances to obtain federal funds. The Federal Transit Administration, which handles funding applications, generally wants consensus on transit proposals and is aware that CenterLine has been in dispute for at least six years.

Since 2000, political and community opposition has stalled the proposal and triggered several reductions in the line from its original 28 miles.

Despite the downsizing, CenterLine still faces a June 3 vote in Irvine that could determine its fate.

In a political development related to CenterLine, Supervisor Bill Campbell came out against the rail project Wednesday evening at an appearance in Irvine.

Rather than build CenterLine, Campbell said he supports extending the Orange Freeway along the Santa Ana River from the infamous Orange Crush to the San Diego Freeway.