Orange County to Decide Fate of CenterLine Project Monday

In the wake of CenterLine’s June 3 election defeat in Irvine, Orange County transportation leaders will decide Monday whether to scrap the beleaguered light-rail project or proceed with a shortened, 8-mile alternative from John Wayne Airport to the Santa Ana train depot.

The abbreviated rail line option is one of three recommended by the Orange County Transportation Authority staff to the agency’s board of directors, which has long supported construction of a light-rail system for the county.

Other alternatives include canceling the project or expanding the frequency of Metrolink rail service from Laguna Niguel to Fullerton, and ultimately Los Angeles. The options were revealed Friday.

“If the board votes for CenterLine, we will go forward,” said Arthur T. Leahy, the authority’s chief executive officer. “If against, we will stop it.”

The three recommendations are based on staff evaluations of eight transportation projects. Among the other possibilities were more roads and highways, light-rail lines to north and west Orange County and various types of express bus service.

Though the OCTA staff recommended three of eight alternatives, board members are free to consider all possibilities.

With few exceptions, the board has approved CenterLine matters unanimously. Several new board members, however, oppose light rail and might prefer improved bus service or commuter rail, such as Metrolink.

Others say they support light rail, but might entertain other routes, perhaps through west Orange County where cities have expressed interest in CenterLine.The revised CenterLine proposal calls for an 8-mile route from John Wayne Airport to Santa Ana, where it would loop around the Civic Center and terminate at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. .

This marks the third time the proposed route has been shortened in the face of political and community opposition.

The original 28-mile proposal was first cut to 18 miles due to resistance from north Orange County cities. It was then reduced to 11 miles to avoid Irvine neighborhoods with strong anti-CenterLine forces.

In June, the Irvine leg of the route, which would have gone to UC Irvine, was narrowly defeated in a municipal election, forcing OCTA to reevaluate the entire project. Since then, the Irvine City Council has backed the shortened route to John Wayne Airport.

The Metrolink option calls for increasing train frequencies from hourly to every 30 minutes from Laguna Niguel to Fullerton and eventually from Fullerton to Los Angeles. The light-rail system would use 12 miles of right of way from the old Pacific Electric Red Car trolley service. Three types of bus rapid transit were studied, including a $900-million route from John Wayne to the Santa Ana station where buses would run along elevated lanes. Street-level service on the same route was estimated to cost as much as $24 million, while a system that employed elevated lanes along Bristol Street could cost as much as $320 million.