(The following story by Duane W. Gang appeared on The Press-Enterprise website on February 20.)
LOS ANGELES — California Transportation Commission members urged Caltrans and two major railroads Tuesday to hammer out the details of a proposed rail bridge in Colton if they want the project to receive a share of $2 billion in bond money.
The $198.3 million Colton Crossing project, which would relieve a rail bottleneck near Interstate 10, is backed by BNSF Railway, Union Pacific and Caltrans.
Caltrans is seeking bond money for half of the cost and made a pitch during a public hearing before the commission, the agency charged with recommending how to spend bond money that voters approved for transportation in 2006.
While Caltrans supports Colton Crossing, a consortium of local transportation agencies in five Southern California counties left the project off the wish list they presented to the commission Tuesday.
The agencies argued the project, while important, benefits two private railroads and not the public at large.
Commissioners told Caltrans and representatives from BNSF and Union Pacific to finalize an agreement that the railroads would cover half of the price tag, detail the public benefits of the crossing and address the concerns from local officials, such as increased access for passenger rail service.
“I would suggest we get busy if this is a proposal the commission is going to consider seriously,” commission Chairman James Ghielmetti said.
Prop. 1B is a $19.9 billion bond measure intended to improve the state’s transportation network. This round of bond funding is designed to improve the movement of goods through California.
The commission’s staff is expected to make recommendations in March, but it’s not clear whether the Colton Crossing or the counties’ wish list will be included. The full commission is set to make a decision April 10.
For more than 100 years, trains at Colton Crossing have had to stop and wait for each other to pass. More than 100 trains from Union Pacific and BNSF use the crossing daily.
‘Nationally Significant’
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office has long pushed for a bridge there as part of his public works borrowing agenda. And Caltrans Director Will Kempton nominated the project for bond money in a Jan. 17 letter to the commission.
Ross Chittenden, Caltrans’ Prop. 1B manager, on Tuesday called the Colton Crossing a “nationally significant project” since it would allow for additional freight to move from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach through California more quickly.
He said a bridge would increase freight capacity on the railroads since trains no longer would have to stop and wait for each other. An improved crossing would reduce the need for more cargo-hauling trucks and reduce wait times for motorists at nearby railroad crossings, he said.
Since the local agencies did not nominate the project, Chittenden said, “Caltrans sponsored Colton (Crossing) to keep this vital project in the mix.”
Caltrans is seeking nearly $100 million for Colton Crossing, half the project’s total cost. That would make it one of the largest bond funding requests in Southern California.
The railroads would pay the other half, Chittenden said.
Deborah Barmack, executive director of San Bernardino Associated Governments, told commissioners Tuesday that her organization opposes the use of bond money for the crossing because it does not have the same public benefit of other projects.
Ann Mayer, executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, said it is not a good use of bond money but her agency does not oppose the project outright. Instead, she said, Riverside County officials want other conditions met, such as increased access through the crossing for Metrolink trains, if the commission decides to fund the project.
Commissioners Joseph Tavaglione, of Riverside, and Larry Zarian, of Glendale, raised questions about who would pay for any cost overruns and who will oversee construction.
Juan Acosta, BNSF director of government affairs, said the state’s contribution would be a fixed cost, and the two railroads would cover any additional expenses.
Grade Separations
Transportation agencies and local officials in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties have joined forces in seeking funding for 53 projects, including $1.7 billion worth they consider a top priority.
In the Inland area, officials are seeking more than $400 million for projects they have placed in their top tier.
The agencies are hoping the cooperative approach will work better than when counties competed against each other during the first round of bond funding.
On Tuesday, they urged commissioners to take into account that consensus.
“We are at a crisis. We have the worst air quality in the nation. We have the worst congestion in the nation,” said Art Leahy, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority. “This is unprecedented (unity) and reflects the important needs trying to be addressed.”
The bulk of the projects across the five counties — including Riverside and San Bernardino — are for grade separations, which allow vehicles to travel above or below rail lines.
All but one of the 13 top tier funding requests in Riverside County are grade separation projects.
In San Bernardino County, eight of the 10 top tier projects are grade separations.
Local officials view the projects as key to goods movement, saying the effects on motorists and communities by the increasing number of freight trains must be addressed.
Between 100 and 130 trains each day pass through the city of Riverside alone. Some crossing gates are lowered for as long as six hours a day, Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said recently. He was not at Tuesday’s hearing.
The voting public in Southern California approved Prop. 1B with the expectation that grade separations would be included, said Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone.
“We support economic development and welcome the logistics industry,” Stone said. But he said support will wane without funding for grade separations.