City Council Reluctantly Backs Light Rail System

Fearing they may be left out of transit plans, City Council members have reluctantly agreed to go along with their neighbors by offering tentative support for a light rail system for North County.

Council members said Tuesday they are worried about the cost of running a railway system, but acknowledged that larger cities already have voiced support of that plan.

“I think we should consider being a player here,” City Manager David L. Rudat said. “We may be burdened with supporting the system without the benefit of a [rail] line down Main Street.”

Eight North County cities have been asked by the Orange County Transportation Agency to consider public transit needs for the next 20 years. The agency must decide by late April how to spend $465 million that voters have approved for transportation uses.

Transportation officials have given Anaheim, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Tustin, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Orange seven options to consider. These include improving roadway systems or developing an express bus system that could whisk the growing population around a 28-mile highway corridor that runs through North County.

The light railway, which would run above ground, could cost up to $1.7 billion to build and $71 million annually to operate, according to transportation officials.