Alameda Corridor Board Approves Plan to Meet Future Goals.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2004

Directors of the agency that built the Alameda Corridor unanimously approved a seven-point plan Thursday that will serve as a blueprint for the agency's future roles in road, bridge and rail improvement projects aimed at expediting the regional movement of goods.

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) governing board approved an implementation plan that will enable ACTA to partner with the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, distribution centers and other parties in realizing long-sought reductions of daytime truck traffic on the Long Beach (710) and Harbor (110) freeways, as well as major arterial streets in the region.

The governing board allocated more than $3 million in anticipated costs for the agency's next phase. Board members had directed their management staff Dec. 4 to develop a plan to help the agency support and take part in projects that will speed cargo deliveries, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. Staff returned Thursday with an implementation plan with timetables, financial projections, survey data and other initiatives.

"ACTA's future is no longer limited to the Alameda Corridor," said ACTA Vice Chair Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles city councilwoman. "The implementation plan we approved today not only will help move cargo out of the ports and into warehouses and stores more quickly, but will have the added benefit of easing traffic jams and reducing the number of idling trucks on streets and freeways in our communities and throughout the region, including Riverside and San Bernardino counties."

The seven-point plan approved by the governing board empowers ACTA management staff and its consultants to:

1) Assist in the evaluation and implementation of extended

operating hours of the cargo distribution system at the

two ports and the regional distribution centers that serve

them.

2) Work with the ports in optimizing the use of existing

on-dock rail facilities.

3) Develop a pilot program for a shuttle train operation.

4) Assist the Port of Los Angeles and a railroad in developing

a new, near-dock intermodal container transfer facility

(ICTF) that would accept containers for the Alameda

Corridor, rather than trucking the containers on the Long

Beach (710) Freeway.

5) Work toward the development of the Caltrans Heim Bridge

Replacement Project (SR-47) to improve port access and

increase utilization of the Alameda Corridor south of

State Route 91 as an alternative to the 710 and Harbor

(110) freeways and local arterial streets.

6) Participate in MTA and other agency goods-movement studies.

7) Identify funding options.

"We finally have a plan in place that will help us implement concepts we have been talking about for years," said ACTA Chair Frank Colonna, the vice mayor of Long Beach. "We will improve the quality of life for residents in Long Beach and other harbor communities while simultaneously moving the goods that fuel the local economy. This is a victory for residents, as well as the region's commercial interests."

The agency's governing board is made up of representatives from the cities and ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). ACTA's role as a joint-powers authority positions it to work with the various agencies involved in its projects.

Opened in April 2002, the Alameda Corridor consolidated train traffic from four branch rail lines into a high-speed freight rail expressway stretching 20 miles between the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the transcontinental rail yards near downtown Los Angeles.