President Barack Obama Tuesday included $125 million in his proposed 2016-17 fiscal year budget to help pay for a Santa Ana-to-Garden Grove streetcar project.
The 4.1-mile streetcar line from the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center to a new transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove is estimated to cost $289 million, according to Joel Zlotnik of the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is spearheading the project.
Officials are working to get more funding from the federal government’s New Starts program. Some funding is expected to also come from various state and local sources such as Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax that covers transportation improvements.
“This is another major step forward toward the realization of our county’s first modern streetcar,” said OCTA Chairwoman Lori Donchak. “Ultimately, this is about providing better options for people to get out of their cars and using public transportation, whether it’s to get to work, to school or to an afternoon business meeting.”
Plans call for up to six streetcars on the route that would stop every 10 minutes during peak hours at 10 stations in each direction.
Work is expected to begin in 2017, with the first streetcar hitting the rails in 2020.
— Wire reports