Where Could the OC Streetcar Go Beyond Garden Grove?
Currently, the OC Streetcar is designed to transport people from the Santa Ana Train Depot to Downtown Santa Ana and then head northwest along the Pacific Electric right-of-way up to Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.
The Pacific Electric right-of-way is the historic path that the Red Car interurban streetcars utilized to travel between Downtown Santa Ana and Downtown Los Angeles until 1950. From Santa Ana Boulevard and Raitt Street in Santa Ana to the Coyote Creek in La Palma, the path of the Pacific Electric right-of-way remains unobstructed in Orange County.
Recently in neighboring Los Angeles County, the Planning and Programming Committee of Metro (LA’s version of OCTA) approved four specific alignments to be used for environmental studies for extending Metro’s light rail network from Downtown Los Angeles to South Street and Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia. The intersection of Pioneer and South is just a little over a mile, along the Pacific Electric right-of-way, from the Orange County boundary at Coyote Creek.
Metro calls this project the West Santa Ana Branch. Perhaps one day, the West Santa Ana Branch could connect to Santa Ana and the OC Streetcar.