Santa Ana — Santa Ana Streetcar

Rail Transit Online, March 2008

The cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove have revealed ambitious plans for a 5-mi. (8 km) streetcar line connecting redevelopment areas with a commuter rail and Amtrak station. The project would cost approximately $302 million and would start at the multi-modal Santa Ana Transportation Center, run through the city's downtown business and office core and end near a golf course in Garden Grove slated for conversion into a major tourist destination. Among the traffic generators being considered are a new theme park, a soccer stadium and a science-therned entertainment complex.

The two cities have applied to the Orange County Transportation Authority for almost $14 million in grant money that would pay for the next round of planning and studies. Officials believe investing in a streetcar line will attract major developers, as it has in Portland and Little Rock. "You can say you've got a bus route, and your private investors don't see that as anything particularly special," Santa Ana Director of Public Works James Ross told The Orange County Register. "If you put down rail, they see that you're making an investment in that corridor."