City is on track with rail proposal

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- The city hopped on board with Irvine on Monday to welcome a

county-planned light rail system that would connect the two cities.

In a 4-1 vote, the City Council authorized the county to create a

12.6-mile corridor that would connect South Coast Plaza and the Arts

District to John Wayne Airport and UC Irvine.

Councilwoman Heather Somers cast the only ‘no’ vote, saying she believed

very few residents would use the CenterLine system.

The Orange County Transportation Authority is scheduled to vote Monday on

whether to allow the Costa Mesa-Irvine link to be the first segment of

what it hopes will be a 29-mile line running from Irvine to Fullerton.

But several core cities -- including Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana --

have told the authority they aren’t interested in the project.

Dave Elbaum, the Orange County Transportation Authority’s director of

planning and development, said the authority also will discuss Monday

whether the Costa Mesa-Irvine segment would be worthwhile on its own.

“We’d really like to take a look at the whole 29-mile line,” said Elbaum.

“But we will seriously consider the 12-mile segment.”

Mayor Gary Monahan, Elbaum and Peter Naghavi, the city’s transportation

services manager, say they believe the successof a Costa Mesa-Irvine rail

connection would encourage other cities to join the system. But Naghavi

and Monahan both said a 12.6-mile railway unattached to a larger system

would probably not be worth the county’s effort.

“Twelve miles is not going to do much,” Monahan said Tuesday. “But as it

expands, other cities will race to become a part of it.”

Several opponents to the rail line said Monday that the county has only

considered obsolete technology for the project. But Elbaum said the

authority would seek the latest technology when it was finally time for

construction.

Former Mayor Peter Buffa, who pushed for a rail line during his term in

office, told the council that supporting the CenterLine project might not

be popular with voters. But he said it was the council’s responsibility

to think ahead.

“You’re being asked to step up for a system that won’t come into fruition

while you’re in office,” Buffa said. “You’ll be long gone when the ribbon

is cut. But there is a future for a rail line in Orange County.”