It’s been a busy year for Orange County’s first modern electric streetcar. Construction is underway, and a new mobile app makes it simple to get updated project information.
With the arrival of the holiday season, a construction recess on Fourth Street in Santa Ana is in place through the start of 2020, allowing optimum access to businesses in the area for holiday shopping, dining and entertainment.
Construction activities continue elsewhere on the 4.1-mile streetcar route between the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) and a new transit stop at Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove. Those activities include:
- Crews are busy relocating utilities in the area, including sewer and water lines and storm drains, and dry utilities such as electricity and gas lines. Work on utility relocation is scheduled for completion in early 2020.
- Foundations are being poured for OC Streetcar’s maintenance and storage facility along the former Pacific Electric right-of-way in Santa Ana.
- The foundation and pier walls for a new 350-foot-long bridge across the Santa Ana River are complete, and other work on that bridge is scheduled to resume after the rainy season.
OCTA leads construction on the project and works closely with officials from the Federal Transit Administration, which awarded a $149 million federal funding grant one year ago, allowing construction to begin.
Along with other federal money, that funding is expected to pay for more than half of the $408 million project. Other funds come from OC Go (also known as Measure M), Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements.
OC Streetcar will serve Santa Ana’s thriving downtown and dense employment areas and will carry passengers between SARTC and Garden Grove, running along Santa Ana Boulevard, Fourth Street and the Pacific Electric right-of-way and connecting with OCTA’s busiest bus routes.
The OC Streetcar app provides easy access to project information including work locations, a business resource guide and project photos. Find it at the Apple Store and Google Play.
The project is on track to begin testing and operations in early 2022. Learn more about OC Streetcar here.
See how the future is coming to Santa Ana with this video.