Green Port Gateway project begins
America’s Port of Long Beach has launched a US$84m project to remove a railroad bottleneck and build additional on-dock rail capacity to move cargo more efficiently and sustainably.
The “Green Port Gateway” project, funded in part with state and federal transportation money, is realigning a critical rail pathway to the Port’s southeastern terminals and adding a rail support yard for the Port’s new Middle Harbor Terminal, already under construction.
The project will add a third rail line at Ocean Boulevard, helping to remove bottlenecks on the existing mainline track to allow port terminals to shift cargo from trucks to trains, which decreases local traffic congestion and air pollution. Roadwork will also be needed to reconfigure one Port thoroughfare to make room for the additional rail line. Overall, about 29,000 feet of track is being added.
The port is funding the project with the help of US$27m from the state’s Proposition 1B Trade Corridor Improvement Fund, and another US$17m from the US Department of Transportation’s TIGER III program (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery).
The Green Port Gateway is the first of four rail projects already started or expected to begin in the next year to promote more on-dock rail shipments. It’s part of the larger San Pedro Bay Ports Rail Enhancement Programme, which involves several projects by the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles and the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.
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