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The West Santa Ana Branch is a rail right-of-way formerly used by the Pacific Electric's (PE) Santa Ana route in Los Angeles County and Orange County in Southern California. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) owns the segment of the right-of-way in Los Angeles County, and the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) owns the segment in Orange County. [1] [2]
The line 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 (3.2 km) portion of it is occupied by Interstate 105 and the C Line. The right-of-way runs nearly straight on a diagonal between the two cities, in contrast to the cardinal grid of Orange County.[ citation needed ]
The right-of-way was established as an interurban route for the Pacific Electric Railway. Grading of the route began on September 30, 1904, [3] and service commenced in 1905. The line was double-tracked for its length except for single track bridges. One set of tracks was removed in 1941. [4] Service was truncated to Bellflower in 1950, and finally discontinued in 1958. Southern Pacific continued to use the line for freight. A Caltrans survey in 1981 reported that the line had been reduced to a single track railway, which had several level crossings removed and was in poor condition. [4] The 12.5-mile (20 km) section in Orange County between Paramount and Stanton was acquired by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority in 1990 as part of the $450 million package deal with Southern Pacific (equivalent to $1.05 billion in 2023). [5] The Century Freeway and the Green Line were constructed along a segment in Lynwood, opening in 1993 and 1995 respectively.
Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14 in Santa Ana was added to the list of National Register of Historic Places on September 22, 1983.
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. [6] [7] [8]
The Bellflower station was restored to its opening condition in 2008.
Despite the inactivity of the line, parts of the right-of-way still hold tracks that are in working order. For example, a warehouse stub of the San Pedro Branch Rail is located between Garfield Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue. The Paramount Industrial Lead, [9] another branch of the San Pedro Branch Rail, also occupies the right-of-way with a non-gated level crossing at the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue and Paramount Boulevard, a gated crossing at Downey Avenue, and a depot near Somerset Boulevard's Paramount Petroleum plant.
Several disconnected and dilapidated fragments of tracks remain at random intervals throughout the right-of-way.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), in conjunction with Metro and OCTA, [10] [11] conducted an alternatives analysis to determine the list of all feasible alternatives for the project.[ needs update ] 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. [12] All currently planned projects on the WSAB right-of-way have been various forms of light rail, including modern streetcars using light-rail vehicles (LRVs).
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. [13] [14] As proposed, the light rail line will travel between Artesia and Union Station, using the ROW between Paramount and Artesia. [15]
As of 2016 [update] , 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. [16]
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, it connected cities in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County.
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for the transportation system in the county, including freeway expansions, express lane management, bus and rail transit operation, and commuter rail funding and oversight.
State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue in Gardena, just west of the junction with the Harbor Freeway, east to Riverside at the junction with the Pomona and Moreno Valley freeways.
The Southern California freeways are a vast network of interconnected freeways in the megaregion of Southern California, serving a population of 23 million people. The Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeways was adopted by the Regional Planning Commission in 1947 and construction began in the early 1950s. The plan hit opposition and funding limitations in the 1970s, and by 2004, only some 61% of the original planned network had been completed.
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers to the primary Metrolink hub at L.A. Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, as well as to many attractions in Orange County including the Knott's Berry Farm area, Angel Stadium of Anaheim and the Honda Center, the Disneyland Resort, Old Town Orange, Santa Ana Zoo, Mission San Juan Capistrano and many more. In San Diego County, it serves the Oceanside Pier and Camp Pendelton.
The Santa Monica Air Line was an interurban railroad operated by the Pacific Electric between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Electric passenger service operated over the line between 1908 and 1953. After abandonment as a freight railroad, most of the route was converted to light rail for use by the Metro E Line.
The South Hollywood–Sherman Line was a suburban route of the Pacific Electric Railway. The line ran between Downtown Los Angeles and the suburb of Sherman. The line was named after Moses Sherman, who built the line and the Sherman street car yard on the line in West LA. The large 5.56-acre (2.25 ha) rail facility was on Santa Monica Boulevard just west of La Cienega Boulevard. The yard had a steam power house, a car barn and a shop building.
The Owensmouth Line was a Pacific Electric interurban service that connected the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles. The route was largely developed as the result of real estate speculation.
The Santa Ana Line was an interurban railway route connecting Los Angeles and Santa Ana in Orange County. It ran between 1905 and 1958 and was predominantly operated by the Pacific Electric Railway for its history.
The Hawthorne–El Segundo Line was an interurban railway route of the Pacific Electric Railway. It was built to transport oil from the Standard Oil Refinery in El Segundo and also saw passenger service. Unlike most corridors which hosted Pacific Electric passengers, the line remains largely intact as the Union Pacific El Segundo Industrial Lead.
The Long Beach Line was a major interurban railway operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, California via Florence, Watts, and Compton. Service began in 1902 and lasted until 1961, the last line of the system to be replaced by buses.
J was a streetcar line in Los Angeles, California. It was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1911 to 1945, by Los Angeles Transit Lines from 1945 to 1958, and by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority from 1958 to 1963.
V was a streetcar service in Los Angeles, California. It was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1920 to 1958, and by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority from 1958 to 1963.
5 or the 5 Car was a streetcar line operated by the Los Angeles Railway, later named the Los Angeles Transit Lines, and by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority. From 1920 to 1932, this route was known as the E Car. This was changed as part of a method to distinguish routes that lacked loops at their termini. Consequently, the 5 Car was unique during the LAMTA era in that it did not use PCC streetcars. It used buses from 1955 to 1964, transferring from LATL in 1958, then splitting the line in two in 1961, until all lines were turned over to SCRTD in August 1964.
7 was a streetcar line in Los Angeles, California. The service was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1932 to 1955. It ran from Spring and 2nd Streets to Athens and 116th Street, by way of Spring Street, Main Street, Broadway Place, Broadway, and Athens Way. During its Los Angeles Transit Lines days, around 1950 to 1955, Line 7 was rerouted off South Broadway to Central Avenue, at least as far north as 7th Street across Olympic Boulevard to possibly Vernon Avenue, covering trackage that was abandoned rail by line U, when that line was converted to trolley bus August 3, 1947.
F was a streetcar line in Los Angeles, California. It was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1911 to 1955.
The Venice Short Line was a Pacific Electric (PE) interurban railway line in Los Angeles which traveled from downtown Los Angeles to Venice, Ocean Park, and Santa Monica via Venice Boulevard. The route was especially busy on Sundays, as Venice was PE's most popular beachfront destination.
The OC Streetcar is a modern streetcar line currently under construction in Orange County, California, running through the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove. The electric-powered streetcar will be operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), and will serve ten stops in each direction along its 4.15-mile (6.68 km) route.
Anaheim Rapid Connection (ARC) was a proposed streetcar line in Anaheim, California. It would have been located in the Anaheim Resort and Platinum Triangle, with stops at the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, and the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), among others. It has been the subject of much political controversy, which led to the project being cancelled by OCTA in 2018. Councilmembers from the cities of Anaheim and Fullerton stated opposition to the streetcar mode citing concerns about traffic impacts, safety, capital costs, and recent declining transit ridership. These cities also shared concerns about how implementation of dedicated transit lanes would impact automobile traffic.
The Southeast Gateway Line is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric's historic West Santa Ana Branch, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the city of Artesia, along with other cities in southeastern Los Angeles County.