Council Votes to Begin Light-Rail Project Study
In a session that did not adjourn until 3:15 a.m., the City Council voted early Wednesday to move forward with planning for a light-rail system that would link Irvine with Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.
After more than six hours of emotional public testimony, much of it strongly against the controversial $1-billion CenterLine project, the council voted 4-1 to begin a $20-million preliminary engineering study. Councilman Greg Smith cast the only “no” vote.
Costa Mesa endorsed the study this week. Santa Ana is to consider it Oct. 15. All three cities must endorse the concept before the Orange County Transportation Authority will consider it.
The project is a scaled-down version of CenterLine, which initially was to run from Irvine to Fullerton.
Though the eight-hour council session ended later than any previously, it was not the longest, officials said. The previous week’s meeting on the same topic began at 1 p.m and ended at 12:30 a.m.
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