Economic development boosters in the Inland Empire have an unlikely ally: Irvine Mayor Beth Krom.
At a recent Urban Land Institute gathering in Costa Mesa, Krom said it might make more sense to spend money pushing economic development in the Inland Empire than building a tunnel linking inland workers with jobs in Irvine and elsewhere in Orange County.
“We shouldn’t look at this as a threat to Orange County,” Krom said of jobs in the Inland Empire before some 200 developers and local officials.
In an interview after Krom’s speech, she called the Inland Empire’s development the “the elephant in the middle of the room.”
“No one wants to talk about it,” she said.
Krom said she’s willing to look beyond Irvine’s own economic aspirations to get the Inland Empire on board with a plan that keeps people from driving “four hours a day” on congested freeways.
An Irvine mayor championing Inland Empire job growth over that in her own city seems odd. But Krom’s Inland Empire cheerleading is driven by what is a bigger concern for many in Irvine,the tunnel.
A tunnel linking Irvine and the Inland Empire is an option transportation planners are studying as a way to relieve chronic congestion on the Riverside (91) Freeway. The $12 billion project, which many see as a long shot, would carry drivers between Orange and Riverside counties and include an aqueduct.
Krom opposes the tunnel, saying it would be disruptive to the mountains and would dump traffic on her city.
For more on this story, see the May 8 edition of the Business Journal.
