OCTA to set light rail route

Deirdre Newman

The county will determine the route for the CenterLine light rail

system on Monday, and the plan recommended by its staff members jibes

with the route Costa Mesa prefers.

Orange County Transportation Authority staff members are advising

that the light rail stretch for 9.3 miles from Santa Ana Regional

Transportation Center to John Wayne Airport, with a stop at Santa Ana

College.

The recommended route would include a short underground portion in

Costa Mesa along Avenue of the Arts, a plan the major South Coast

Metro property owners and city leaders hashed out last year.

Mayor Gary Monahan said the recommendation is encouraging.

“I think it’s very promising, and I know that there’s a lot

invested in this project and it’s a big positive for Costa Mesa,”

Monahan said. “So we’re looking forward to the next step and hope the

engineering comes out doable and all the parties can stick together.”

On Dec. 2, the City Council endorsed this route, which will enter

the city from the north, travel down Bristol Street, go left on

Sunflower Avenue for a short distance, turn right onto Avenue of the

Arts, turn left onto Anton Boulevard and then cross through the

Sakioka Farms property into Irvine. There would be two stations in

Costa Mesa -- one just north of Bristol and Sunflower and another at

the corner of Avenue of the Arts and Anton.

This route would require the demolition of the businesses at the

Lakes Pavilion on Anton that would be in the way. Duane Heldt, one of

the owners of the Corner Office, a sports bar and restaurant in the

pavilion, said the route doesn’t make sense geometrically.

“The shortest distance between two points is a straight line,”

Heldt said. “Now when you’re going to turn left on Sunflower and go

under the freeway at Sunflower and Main, wouldn’t it make more sense

to go down Sunflower instead of making a jog and destroying this

business?”

The county was set to choose a route in early December, but staff

members recommended that the board take more time to absorb the

public comments on the environmental report.

The recommended route is the second chosen as the best option by

the city. The first, chosen in 2001, was an elevated route along

Bristol Street and Anton Boulevard, with a station at South Coast

Plaza. The major property owners in the area didn’t like this route

because they were apprehensive that having the light rail come

through the high-end shopping center would interfere with existing

developments.

City and business leaders had also explored a longer underground

route along Bristol Street. The shorter underground route along

Avenue of the Arts would cost an estimated $100 million less, county

staff members said.

The route county staff members gave their stamp of approval to is

“the most environmentally superior alternative,” according to their

report. It also has fewer construction effects, the report states.

If this route is approved Monday, a final environmental statement

and report must be submitted to federal, state and regional agencies

for approval. The county will also do a more in-depth study with

Costa Mesa city leaders and the South Coast Metro stakeholders

regarding the effects of the underground alignment on Avenue of the

Arts.

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

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].