Santa Ana offers free downtown parking to help businesses hurt by electric vehicle construction – Orange County Register

In the battle over how to keep business coming to 4th Street during trolley construction, Santa Ana officials met with business owners midway through, temporarily cutting parking fees in downtown.

Hit hard by the ongoing OC Streetcar construction just outside their restaurants and stores, Santa Ana merchants staged a protest last Wednesday, Feb. activities during the day.

That event, in turn, prompted a number of reactions from the city.

Starting Monday, February 14, parking at four downtown structures will be free from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. On weekends and weeknights from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., parking will remain $1.50 per hour, with the first hour free. Two of the garages are located on 3rd Street and 2nd on 5th Street. In total, they offer 1,940 vacancies.

“I’m glad the city is starting to listen to us,” said Ana Laura Padilla, who owns two properties on 4th Street. “But we will continue to push for more help.”

Business owners complain that a four-year traffic project, which arrived in their front yard two weeks ago, prevented customers from showing up. Some said their sales were down 50%.

According to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), laying the rail on the commercial section of the historic street will take approximately seven months.

Slated for completion in 2024, the tram will run 4.1 miles between the malls in Santa Ana and Garden Grove. The goal is to boost both local economies while reducing car traffic.

In addition to free parking, downtown merchants want help with signage letting customers know their premises remain open even when the “Roads Closed” notice goes into effect.

Merchants also wanted construction to be completed sooner, even as OCTA required workers to work two eight-hour shifts a day instead of one. Merchants also want the county and city to financially bail out their losing business.

While the free parking will help Padilla’s tax return service, Themis Multiservices, she said it won’t help her restaurant, Perla Mexican Cuisine.

“My restaurant has the most customers at night and on weekends,” says Padilla.

Delilah Snell, owner of Alta Baja cafe and market, says her location is also dependent on weekend traffic. “Why not just make parking free all the time?” she speaks.

Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento did not rule out that proposal or others.

“We hope this is the first step towards something more inclusive,” says Sarmiento. “It’s not one and done.”

Originally, the OC Streetcar was supposed to go live this year. However, the project encountered a number of difficulties – including the discovery of contaminated land and unmarked utilities – that delayed the opening and raised the projected cost to $509 million. la.

Sarmiento said officials from OCTA and the county will speak before the Santa Ana City Council at a meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 15, to share business loss mitigation plans. Discussions may include financial grants from the county and city.

“It is not always the case that three companies come together and respond so quickly,” says Sarmiento. “We’re all trying to do whatever we can.”