West Santa Ana Branch

A monument along the right-of-way in Stanton, commemorating the Pacific Electric streetcars.

The West Santa Ana Branch is a rail right-of-way (ROW) formerly used by the Pacific Electric's (PE) Santa Ana route in Los Angeles County and Orange County in Southern California, United States. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) now owns the part of the ROW in Los Angeles County, and the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) owns the part of the ROW in Orange County.[1][2]

The right-of-way was owned by the Pacific Electric Railway. The ROW runs from the Watts Towers in the city of Los Angeles, southeast to the intersection of 4th Street and Santa Ana Boulevard in downtown Santa Ana. A two-mile portion of it is occupied by the I-105 and the Green Line. The ROW runs dead-straight for nearly 20-miles on a diagonal between these two cities, in stark contrast to the cardinal grid of Orange County. As such, the route is clearly visible from aerial photographs from high altitude.

The Ghost Town & Calico Railroad attraction at Knott's Berry Farm uses a PE depot formerly located at Hansen station along the ROW in Stanton as the main station building. The building was moved to the theme park in 1952.[3][4][5]

Future development

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), in conjunction with Metro and OCTA,[6][7] conducted an alternatives analysis to determine the list of all feasible alternatives for the project. These alternatives may use all or part of the ROW. Modes under consideration were bus rapid transit, light rail, commuter rail and high-speed rail. SCAG organized a first round of public meetings in June 2010. A second round of public meetings were held in November and December 2010.[8]

Los Angeles Metro project

Metro has prioritized the corridor on its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), and funding for it was guaranteed in the LA County Measure R and Measure M transportation funding ballot measures.[9][10] As proposed, the light rail line will travel between Artesia and Union Station, using the ROW between Paramount and Artesia.[11]

OC Streetcar

As of 2016, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is collaborating with the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove to build a streetcar line. The western terminus of the proposed route would follow the Pacific Electric right-of-way near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.[12]

See also

References

  1. "West Santa Ana Transit Corridor". Los Angeles Metro. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  2. "Pacific Electric Right of Way Study". Orange County Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  3. DeCaro, Dave. "Knott's Berry Farm: Calico Railroad". Daveland. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  4. "The Santa Ana Branch". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  5. Brigandi, Phil. "Historic Knott's Berry Farm". So Cal Historyland. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  6. "About the Project". Pacific Electric Corridor. Southern California Association of Governments. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  7. Chan, Steven (2008-09-05). "Bravo! rapid bus, part III: A massive expansion, plus light rail in Orange County?". Resonance:Steven Chan's website. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  8. "Community Meetings". Pacific Electric Corridor. Southern California Association of Governments. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  9. "2009 Long Range Transportation Plan Attachment A" (pdf). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  10. "Proposed One-Half Cent Sales Tax for Transportation" (pdf). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  11. "LACMTA to begin environmental process for West Santa Ana Branch line". RT&S. Simmons-Boardman Publishing. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  12. Marroquin, Art & Pimentel, Joseph (March 3, 2016). "Anaheim releases proposed map for streetcar that would link ARTIC to Disneyland". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.