CenterLine is just not on right track

In recent months there has been a good deal of attention given to the

ill-advised light rail project CenterLine.

This summer the Daily Pilot provided a couple of excellent

articles on it and recently elected Councilman Eric Bever wrote a

commentary about it.

The thrust of one Daily Pilot piece had to do with a recent

“survey,” which indicated that a majority of Orange County residents

polled supported CenterLine. I found it interesting that nearly 50%

had no clue about CenterLine until the surveyor provided a “brief

summary” of it. Makes me wonder what that “summary” included. Let me

be clear. I am not against light rail, per se. If a system can be

designed that will remove people from their cars and transport them

in an efficient and cost-effective manner, I’m more than happy to

hear about it.

There are examples all over this country of light-rail systems

that cost much more to build than the original estimates and cost

much more than originally projected in the form of government

subsidies to keep them operating. And those are systems that actually

had destinations. Although portrayed by proponents as a brave first

step, CenterLine is actually what is left of a grand scheme to

crisscross Orange County with light rail. It’s not the engine to

which other cars will connect -- it’s the caboose rolling to an

agonizing stop. Every city except Irvine, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa

have bailed out and Irvine’s participation is tenuous at best after

its citywide vote 18 months ago. As a result, what is left is

slightly more than 9 miles of a planned route that don’t really go

anywhere. It begins at the Santa Ana Transportation Center near the

Santa Ana Freeway and traverses Bristol Street past South Coast Plaza

to, almost, John Wayne Airport. There is a small spur line to Santa

Ana College now included.

The section, which passes through Costa Mesa, is now planned to

dip underground as it approaches the Orange County Performing Arts

Center complex and resurface as it leaves the city toward the

vicinity of the airport. This idea -- to hide this monument to bad

judgment from view in our fair city -- adds to the cost of the

project but makes our local politicians feel better. The powers that

be who support this fiasco would have you believe that somewhere in

the area of 17,000 to 20,000 people will ride this train each day.

The numbers are more than a little nebulous. Within the past

couple of months, the estimates for riders by 2025 was cut by 10%. My

question has been and continues to be one of use. Exactly who will

ride it? Where will they go?

The stops planned for Costa Mesa are not convenient for the only

logical destination, South Coast Plaza. A rider coming down from

central Santa Ana will be required to hike roughly a quarter-mile to

the closest entrance of the plaza.

It’s unlikely that many riders will find that to be a satisfactory

situation. Do we assume people from Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and

Irvine will embark on the Centerline to toodle up Bristol at a

turtle-like 17 mph before disembarking at the transportation center

to hook up with a MetroLink train? If so, where will they park? Is

it not much more likely that, once in their car, they will choose to

cut their commute time to the transportation center by two-thirds and

just drive on up rather than go through the hassle of parking in

Costa Mesa or at the airport? Seems likely to me.

I’ve seen the glossy, optimistic literature the Orange County

Transportation Authority provides to interested parties. No where in

it, however, does it answer my question: Who will ride it? A year ago

I wrote, tongue-in-cheek, that we should buy every one of the

projected riders a brand new hybrid car and still have a half-billion

dollars left for infrastructure improvements and new buses. Those

numbers still work. It seems to me that, rather than a first step in

a regional transportation network, this is really a thinly-veiled

attempt to use federal and local transportation funds to help Santa

Ana refurbish Bristol Street. That’s one more reason to view this

project with suspicion.

I had hoped that the recent election would result in a majority on

the Costa Mesa City Council opposed to Centerline. Sadly, this

appears not to be the case. And, with the expansion of the Orange

County Transportation Authority board from 11 to 18, including

Centerline advocate Gary Monahan, it looks more and more likely that

this money-burning boondoggle might actually break ground some day.

GEOFF WEST

Costa Mesa