ANAHEIM – The City Council on Tuesday will consider spending an additional $1.3 million on studying alternate routes to avoid the Park Vue Inn on Harbor Boulevard during construction of a proposed streetcar.
If approved, the city’s contract with Hill International Inc. would rise to more than $10.9 million to examine the Anaheim Rapid Connection’s 3.2-mile line from Anaheim’s new transit hub to the Convention Center. The study is funded by the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District, which collects 2 percent on hotel room stays within the city’s resort area and the Platinum Triangle.
An environmental review was supposed to be released in December, but was placed on hold when the City Council directed the Public Works Department to re-evaluate route options. Paul Durand has voiced opposition to the city’s initial plan to run the line on his family’s property, which holds the Park Vue Inn.
The expanded contract would allow Hill International to look at alignments that wouldn’t run through Durand’s property.
The environmental study likely won’t be released until the end of 2016, after the city holds community meetings to gather input on other routes, said Natalie Meeks, head of Anaheim’s Public Works Department. Final designs would then be completed in 2019, followed by construction through 2021, according to a city report.
If it’s built, the streetcar’s $318 million construction costs could be largely funded by a New Starts federal transit grant that Meeks said she is plans to apply for.
Meeks said that she had initially hoped advertising revenue and fares would mostly pay for the streetcar’s anticipated $4.3 million annual operating costs, but is now considering whether to ask the Orange County Transportation Authority to cover a bulk of the expense.
The council’s upcoming decision comes as a county ad-hoc transportation committee was recently convened to recommend whether the streetcar project should move ahead. The group’s members are Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait, Irvine Councilman Jeff lalloway, La Habra Councilman Tim Shaw and county Supervisor Shawn Nelson, who all sit on the OCTA’s board of directors.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or amarroquin@ocregister.com
