39 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

OC Weekly, 6/18/19 (old post):

 

 

 

   AN ORANGE COUNTY STREETCAR NAMED DISPLACEMENT  

 

 

 

 

Twenty-five years ago, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) envisioned covering much of the county in a 90-mile spiderweb of light rail lines. That plan, known as CenterLine, was projected to cost a billion dollars. But it never really got beyond PowerPoint Presentations, and finally went away more than a decade ago.

 

Story here.    The CenterLine concept, which was all it was, a concept, itself was a replacement for something called the Orange Line. This was before LACMTA color coded its abuilding transit lines.   While the Orange Line name was eventually given to the busway in the San Fernando Valley, at one point the name Orange Line meant not only a color designation but the county it was to operate in.

[KevinKorell]

Voice of OC, 9/19/19 (old post):

 

 

  Downtown Santa Ana Businesses Say They’re Suffering as OC Streetcar Construction Closes Roads  

 

 

 

Construction of the Orange County Streetcar is moving ahead in Santa Ana, and it’s forced closures along 4th Street that downtown business owners say plummeted their sales.

 

Here is that story.

[KevinKorell]

Voice of OC, 1/20/20:

 

 

  Santa Ana Pushes for Expansion of Streetcar Project  

 

 

Santa Ana officials are advocating an expansion of their $408 million streetcar in the city to places like John Wayne Airport and Anaheim’s tourist-heavy Resort District.

 

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

Orange County Register, Anaheim, CA, 4/6/20:

           

    Construction continues for OC Streetcar and freeway projects during coronavirus outbreak 

  

 

 

Orange County’s transportation agency is pushing ahead with its construction projects – in some cases gaining speed while roads are unusually clear – but with precautions in place to protect workers during the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

 

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

Orange County Register, Anaheim, CA, 5/27/20:

 

        OC Streetcar project keeps on rolling, now with a $45 million contract for operator 

 

 

 

 

The Orange County Transportation Authority has awarded a $45 million contract for the maintenance and operation of the OC Streetcar.

 

Here is the story.

[KevinKorell]

Orange County Breeze, 5/29/20:

 

  OCTA awards contract to operate and maintain OC Streetcar 

 

 

 

As work continues in full swing on construction of the OC Streetcar, the project reached another important milestone this month with the OCTA Board approval of a contract for operations and maintenance of what will be Orange County’s first modern electric streetcar system.

 

Read

[KevinKorell]

CBS Los Angeles, 9/16/20:

 

   Santa Ana PD Investigating After OC Streetcar Project Construction Workers Find Human Remains  

 

 

 

The Santa Ana Police Department Wednesday launched a homicide investigation after construction workers on the OC Streetcar project found human remains at a former scrap yard.

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

Mass Transit magazine, 12/16/20:

 

  OCTA’s first OC Streetcar rail set into Santa Ana Street  

 

 

Construction of Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) OC Streetcar has reached a major milestone as construction crews have set the first rail into place that will eventually carry the streetcar vehicles through the streets of Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

Los Angeles, CA Times, 7/7/21:

 

 

    After decades of fighting and freeways, Orange County is finally getting a streetcar  

 

As metropolitan areas around California were building urban rail systems over the last few decades, one was a notable holdout: Orange County.

 

San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego and even the North Bay constructed rail lines, adding to bigger systems in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County. But Orange County stuck by the car, constructing an extensive network of toll roads through the booming east and south county areas. 

 

Article

[KevinKorell]

Voice of OC, 2/10/22:

 

    Downtown Santa Ana Small Business Owners Block OC Streetcar Construction Over Lost Profits 

 

 

Downtown Santa Ana’s Latino small business owners occupied a restricted construction zone Wednesday to protest the ongoing OC Streetcar construction, which they say has killed off their sales.

 

Read