CenterLine will pull in ahead of schedule

Deepa Bharath

The county’s CenterLine light rail system will arrive two years

earlier than anticipated, Orange County Transportation Authority

officials announced Wednesday.

The $1.2-billion project was expected to begin construction in

April 2006 and be completed in January 2011. But now that 30% of the

design process has been completed, officials say they are optimistic

about getting CenterLine up and running by October 2009, said Arthur

Leahy, OCTA’s chief executive.

“Now that we are in the design process, we know more about the

project,” he said. “We’re excited because this acceleration could

save us up to $102 million, and more significantly, the project will

be done and open to the public sooner.”

Officials say they will ask the OCTA board on Monday to endorse

the accelerated schedule and approve the project cost in its

entirety.

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

cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana. About 1.2 miles of the line will run through Costa Mesa.

The CenterLine route through Costa Mesa will enter the city from

Santa Ana from an elevated position headed south on Bristol Street

and then it will turn on to Anton Boulevard. After a stop on Anton,

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

at ground level just before MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street,

where it will elevate again.

Costa Mesa officials and business representatives had hoped to

place the city’s portion of the light rail system underground. But

last week, the OCTA board voted 8 to 1 to reject an in-depth study of

an underground route because members were not convinced that federal

funding for the study could be found.

South Coast Plaza businesses, which were most concerned with

CenterLine’s interference with existing developments, were keen on

the study.

That was primarily because of the concern that CenterLine users

might park for free at the plaza and catch a train to their Orange

County destination, said Paul Freeman of C.J. Segerstrom and Sons.

“That is a situation that could have been solved by [placing it

underground],” he said. “But I believe that any of these issues is

manageable if we work together.”

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Libby Cowan said she is pleased that the

project has been accelerated.

“We as a community have always supported the CenterLine project,”

she said.

Cowan added that she was disappointed at the process that led to

the denial of the study to put the system underground.

“But the board has spoken,” she said. “And we accept that.”

The construction will cause minimal disruption in Costa Mesa

because most of the work is to be done aboveground, CenterLine

Project Manager Joseph Munde said.

“It’ll probably involve a lot of night work,” he said. “We’ll also

work with the cities and with South Coast Plaza to make sure we avoid

working there during the holiday season so it doesn’t affect the

businesses there.”

Leahy said Costa Mesa city officials have been given some

preliminary drawings of the project.

“We know they do have concerns about the project,” he said. “We

look forward to resolving those issues with them in the next month or

two.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.