ARTIST’S RENDERING of a streetcar in Santa Ana (OCTA image).

You don’t expect to see Donald Trump and Jerry Brown partnering on much of anything, but they seem to both be playing a role in the advancement of the OC Streetcar project that would link Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

The Orange County Transportation Authority announced Friday that the 4.2- mile project was on Gov. Jerry Brown’s top 10 list of important infrastructure projects for California. The list came in response to a request from the president to governors on high-priority projects to be expedited by the federal government.

In a statement, OCTA said. “The inclusion of the OC Streetcar on Friday among the Top 10 state infrastructure projects is another strong indicator that the project is a priority not just for Orange County but for all of California.”

OC Streetcar is being developed with a combination of Measure M funds (Orange County special sales tax for transportation), state and federal dollars. Planned to begin construction in 2018 with a target of 2020 for the beginning of operations, the envisioned project runs from the Civic Center and downtown areas of Santa Ana west along Fifth Street, then turns northwest to pick up the old Pacific Electric right-of-way.

From there it will go to a new transit hub to be built on Harbor Boulevard north of Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove. Bridges would be built over the Santa Ana River and Westminster Avenue.

The entire project is expected to cost $298 million, and could serve as a starter segment to a larger system.