Halt Urged in Work on Rail Project

Orange County’s top transportation official called for a halt Wednesday to work on the controversial CenterLine due to faltering support for the $2.3-billion rail project.

In an action that officials said could delay progress on the line several months or up to a decade, the Orange County Transportation Authority scrapped plans this week to request federal funding for the project. Agency chief Arthur Leahy also halted all preliminary engineering work on the project.

It is unclear when--or if--officials will resume work on the line, which, as now drawn, would stretch from Irvine to Fullerton.

In a memo to the agency’s directors, Leahy said he decided the project wouldn’t attract federal funds unless there were clear support from cities, neighborhoods and businesses. Although Leahy and other officials at the agency said the action does not mean the project has been abandoned, none could say when it might be revived.

Leahy’s recommendation, which requires no approval from the agency’s board members, follows more than a month of heavy criticism. Some city leaders dismissed the project as an enormous waste of public money, and residents said it would destroy the flavor of their neighborhoods.

On Monday, the Fullerton City Council said it would back the line only if it ran through Fullerton--a route the transit agency abandoned last week to appease Anaheim leaders. Anaheim City Council members, spurred on by residents of several older neighborhoods, said they would only support the project if it avoided those areas. agency officials agreed and said they might abandon the entire northern third of the line.