OCTA announces weeklong closure of Bristol Street in Santa Ana for OC Streetcar rail work

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) announced Bristol Street will close to through traffic between First Street and Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana for up to seven days beginning Dec. 4 for the preparation of track being set.

Construction crews will work around the clock during the closure to excavate and prepare the track bed for the westbound track installation. Bristol is scheduled to reopen to traffic in the area by 5:00 a.m. Dec. 11. OC Bus traffic, including Route 57 and others that use Bristol Street through Santa Ana, also will be detoured around the closure on those days.

A similar extended closure will be scheduled for early 2021 to complete work in the eastbound direction.

OCTA, which is building the OC Streetcar, worked with the contractor and the city of Santa Ana to expedite the work and have less of an impact during the holiday season. The previous plan was for extended street closures over several periods of time.

The track preparation work is necessary to begin setting the first segments of track for the OC Streetcar – a major milestone anticipated to begin later this month. The first segments of rail for the streetcar are being pulled into the project zone this week.

The OC Streetcar will run on a 4.1-mile route through Santa Ana and Garden Grove. It is scheduled to begin testing and operations in late 2022.

The OC Streetcar route will serve Santa Ana’s downtown and dense employment areas that include county and local government offices and courthouses in the Civic Center. The streetcar will carry passengers between the busy Santa Ana transportation center and a transit stop at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove, running along Santa Ana Boulevard, Fourth Street and the Pacific Electric right-of-way and connecting with OCTA’s busiest bus routes.