OCTA board turns down CenterLine request

Deirdre Newman

A lack of federal funding has derailed the city’s effort to study

undergrounding its portion of the CenterLine light rail system.

On Monday, the Orange County Transportation Authority board voted

8 to 1 to reject an in-depth study of an underground alternative

based on a lack of confidence about obtaining federal funding for

construction. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido was the only member to

support the study.

The light rail system calls for an 11.4-mile route through the

cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana.

The South Coast Plaza business community led the charge for the

undergrounding because it feared any other option would interfere

with existing developments.

While the vote killed the undergrounding study for now, the board

left alive the opportunity for more dialogue if federal funding

materializes.

“If we knew there was some ray of sunshine, I’d be more willing

[to support the study],” Chairman Tim Keenan said. “It’s foolhardy to

put up the [funds] if the federal money doesn’t become available.”

Councilwoman Libby Cowan, the council’s leading advocate for

undergrounding, said she was disappointed, but not surprised by the

decision.

She reaffirmed that the city and business community would fully

support the light rail project even without the undergrounding. Cowan

said it’s imperative for interested parties to monitor the rest of

the authority’s preliminary engineering process to ensure Costa

Mesa’s needs are met with an elevated light rail, including broader

spans and additional aesthetics.

“Some of those things have actually gone out the window, so we

have to make sure those things stay in as the costs and project are

tweaked,” Cowan said.

The preliminary engineering phase started in June after Costa

Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana revived the CenterLine concept, which had

fizzled from lack of support. The original incarnation called for a

28-mile system that ran from Fullerton to Irvine. The 1998-99 Orange

County Grand Jury also criticized the original proposal.

A new grand jury report released last week found that the county

has sufficient population density to support a light rail system. But

it also asserted that Costa Mesa’s desire to underground its portion

would add to the construction cost.

Also last week, a group of 21 former and current elected officials

sent a letter to the authority asking it to reconsider its support

for the light rail project, claiming it could become a “fiscal black

hole.” County Treasurer John Moorlach, a Costa Mesa resident, and

Assemblyman John Campbell were two of the signees.

The authority countered with public opinion polls from its own

staff and from UC Irvine that show a lot of public support, said Ted

Nguyen, media relations manager. There are 15 other cities in the

county that have expressed interest in joining an extension of

CenterLine after the first installment is up and running, Nguyen

added.

The CenterLine route through Costa Mesa would enter the city from

Santa Ana from an elevated position headed south on Bristol Street

and then turn onto Anton Boulevard. After a stop on Anton, it would

begin going down to at-grade near Sakioka Drive and continue at-grade

until just before MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street, where it would

be elevated again.

Costa Mesa officials and business representatives had hoped the

authority would at least study the underground option again. Their

main concerns with an elevated route include a loss of surface

parking, loss of lane capacity and significant traffic and pedestrian

issues based on the line’s proximity to major freeways and commercial

centers.

The authority conducted a study in the last year that explored two

above-ground and three underground options. It concluded that it’s

technically feasible to put the rail line underground, but not cost

effective. The underground options studied would ratchet up the

project cost $150 million to $235 million, the analysis found.

Ted Bischak, senior vice president of CommonWealth Partners, which

owns part of South Coast Plaza, said the previous study was based on

“premature assumptions.”

“I frankly think the information [the authority has] is inadequate

and if they had all the facts and we would proceed with preliminary

engineering, they would understand better that we’re trying to

improve quality of life [by putting the line underground],” Bischak

said.

The public-private partnership between city officials and South

Coast business representatives will continue to discuss CenterLine

options, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

Some of the key features of the elevated option for Costa Mesa are

a greater track height to reduce site-line effects for the existing

developments and long column spacing -- up to 150 feet apart -- for

aesthetics.

The authority will also study the Sunflower alignment, which

instead of turning onto Anton Boulevard, would come south on Bristol

Street and turn on Sunflower Avenue, then turn south on Sakioka

Drive, cut back and continue down Anton.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.