The Anaheim City Council last week approved a construction contract to build a $127 million transportation hub that will eventually host California’s planned high-speed rail system.
The 16-acre Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, or ARTIC, will be constructed in the heart of Orange County within walking distance of the Honda Center sports arena, Angel Stadium, and the City National Grove of Anaheim concert venue. The location is near the city’s modest existing train station and used by Amtrak and Metrolink commuter trains.
The project has been criticized by opponents as a waste of taxpayer dollars because plans for the high-speed rail system that would run from San Francisco to San Diego have been shaky.
In addition to connecting to the high-speed train, the project would connect the area’s buses, taxis and trains “providing deeper, stronger connectivity to this region,” Councilwoman Lorri Galloway told the Voice of Orange County news website.
The approval culminates a 10-year effort to begin construction, which is now slated to begin in September with the opening in late 2014.
The money to build the project will come from Measure M2, the countywide half-cent sales tax that funds transportation improvements, and from state and federal funding sources.
Anaheim will contribute $32.5 million to purchase the land for the project, according to news reports.
