CenterLine still on track after 9-2 vote

Lolita Harper

A packed conference room at the Orange County Transportation

Authority headquarters Monday morning proved that while the length of

the proposed CenterLine route continues to shrink, general interest

in the project has not.

The board of directors voted 9 to 2 to proceed with a revised

light-rail route from the transportation depot in Santa Ana, through

Costa Mesa’s South Coast Metro area to John Wayne Airport. The

decision came after a five-hour meeting in Orange, where more than 60

people spoke on both sides of the issue.

“To not continue is short-sighted and affects the long-term

viability of transportation in Orange County,” Costa Mesa

Councilwoman Libby Cowan said. “We can’t just continue to widen

freeways, other things have to happen.”

The route will be shortened to 8.5 miles and drops the overall

price tag to less than $1 billion, board chairman Tim Keenan said.

The CenterLine project, once envisioned as a 28-mile alternative

to the overcrowded streets and freeways of Orange County, has been

revised and shortened and shortened some more in the past decade. The

previous plan, which failed to garner the support of Irvine voters in

June, called for an 11.4-mile light-rail system connecting Santa Ana,

Costa Mesa and Irvine. Irvine’s portion would have included a route

from UC Irvine through the Irvine Business Complex to John Wayne

Airport. All three cities backed the proposed line, but Irvine’s

support hinged on a vote of its residents.

Those voters rejected the CenterLine route through their city on

June 3, prompting the transportation authority’s board to reexamine

the entire project. Monday, officials considered abandoning the

CenterLine project but approved the shortened route instead.

Keenan said the decision puts all board members “on the same page”

and allows the transportation authority to really hone in on the

specified 8.5-mile route and consider an expansion to Santa Ana

College, which was cut out because of a lack of funding. Monday’s

decision will also help authorities meet tight federal deadlines.

“Well yes, it’s a smaller route, but once you have the initial

phase, the next step in the expansion already has cities lining up to

be a part,” Cowan said in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

Irvine’s politics are not the only ones to affect light-rail

progress. Costa Mesa made its own waves in the CenterLine discussion

months ago when it pushed heavily for a portion of the railway to go

underground. The idea was costly and unpopular, but city officials

stood by what they believed to be best for South Coast Metro

businesses.

Underground. Above ground. Centerline proponents are just working

on getting an acceptable plan off the ground now.

“It just needs to get started,” Cowan said. “I think once it is

built, people will find a way to utilize it.”

Voters in 1990 approved Measure M, which included a list of

projects to be completed with the one-half cent sales tax increase.

The measure, which includes CenterLine, is very specific as to which

projects should be funded and very detailed in the breakdown,

according to a staff report. Officials have committed to each project

and added the widening of the Garden Grove Freeway to the list. No

projects have been abandoned, according to a staff report.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.