SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will break ground tomorrow on a 4.1-mile streetcar route linking Santa Ana and Garden Grove, Calif., connecting with Amtrak and Metrolink trains as well as 18 regional bus routes.
The nation’s top transit official, acting Federal Transit Administration Administrator K. Jane Williams, will take part in the groundbreaking and make a “major funding announcement” about the streetcar, according to the OCTA.
Others set to attend the ceremony include Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones, Orange County Supervisors Lisa Bartlett and Andrew Do, along with OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson. Bartlett also serves as the chairwoman of the OCTA.
Harkening back to the days of the Pacific Electric Railway, the privately-owned interurban system that once served more than 1,000 route miles in Southern California, the new streetcar will follow a portion of the old PE right-of-way now owned by the OCTA.
Although the Red Cars won’t be coming back, the OCTA has ordered eight Siemens S70 vehicles, each of which can carry up to 180 passengers. The $51.5 million contract includes spare parts and tools, and an option to order up to 10 more streetcars in the future.
OCTA plans to operate six vehicles, with two as spares, on 10 to 15-minute headways, serving 10 stops. Each station will include platforms on both sides, and put riders in reach of government offices, courthouses, schools, shopping, and Santa Ana’s artist village. Approximately midway along the route, OCTA plans a maintenance and storage facility.
The transit agency expects to carry more than 7,300 daily riders in its first year of operation, targeted for 2021.
Chicago-based Walsh Construction Co. was chosen in September with a bid of $220.5 million to build the OC Streetcar system. One of the largest mass transit and rail builders, the firm is also at work on the 8.5-mile Crenshaw/LAX transit project, and has been involved in numerous projects for transit agencies in Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, and elsewhere.
The total cost of the OC Streetcar project is approximately $408 million.
