ARTIST RENDERING of proposed “Rails to Trails” path that would link Garden Grove to Santa Ana (OCTA).

Another segment of the planned “Rails to Trails” project connecting cyclists and pedestrians from Garden Grove with Santa Ana has been filled in. Financially, anyway.

On Tuesday Rep Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and Orange County Transportation Authority officials announced $750,000 in federal funding to support what’s officially called the “Santa Ana-Garden Grove Rails to Trails Gap Closure Project.”

REP. LOU CORREA

Upon completion it would seek to connect the existing bicycle and pedestrian path between Nelson and Brookhurst streets southeast along the former Pacific Electric rail right-of-way to link up with the Santa Ana River Trail, which runs north to Orange and south to Huntington Beach.

Someone on a bike or on foot would eventually be able to go from one downtown to another without generating any greenhouse gas emissions. It’s called the “Rails to Trials” because it would allow people to bike or walk to the Santa Ana Transportation Center or board the under construction OC Streetcar.

This grant won’t be enough to finish the job; the original request was for $3 million. But it’s considered another step – or turn of the wheels – forward.