Orangeline Update: DOA

A few months ago, the Santa Ana City Council voted to spend Measure M money to join the Orangeline Development Authority. I spoke out against this expenditure, pointing out that “the OCTA is not supporting the Orangeline.” Of course the Santa Ana City Council voted for it anyway.

Now information is coming out that makes the Council look even dumber now than they did then.

Orangeline duplicates part of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) alignment (proposed routing) which wishes to run 200 mph high-speed steel on steel rail between San Diego and Sacramento. Specifically, Orangeline parallels routing between Anaheim and Los Angeles Union Station, and as well parallels the existing Metrolink system through Orange County, but offers fewer stations.

The Schwarzenegger Administration has budgeted only $20.5 million in the latest State budget for the continued operation of CHSRA, demonstrating a clear lack of support of this conventional rail project which had originally requested five times this amount for just this fiscal year to continue engineering studies. To succeed or at least continue to endure, CHSRA requires passage of a bond issue planned for the 2008 ballot

About Admin

"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.