Alameda corridor heads toward grand opening: Project remains on schedule, on budget. (Alameda corridor).

Excavation of the Mid-Corridor Trench has been completed, other major components of the Alameda Corridor project have been concluded and track work continues as the rail cargo expressway rolls toward its scheduled opening in April 2002.

All 15 construction contracts for projects needed to open the Alameda Corridor have been awarded. Six of those projects have been completed, and work is well under way on the other nine. To maximize the benefits of the Alameda Corridor after next April's opening, contracts for several additional projects are planned -- most notably for the Pacific Coast Highway Grade Separation.

"We're quite pleased with our progress to date," said James C. Hankla, Chief Executive Officer of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA). "The project is approximately 80 percent complete and we remain within budget and on schedule. Clearly, we've turned the corner and are headed for home.

"In addition," Hankla said, "our community programs are meeting their goals to provide direct benefits to area residents, businesses and local communities through job training, employment and assistance in competing for work."

The Alameda Corridor will connect the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the transcontinental rail yards near downtown Los Angeles with a 20-mile high-speed and high-capacity expressway. By consolidating multiple rail lines now serving the ports, the project will improve the efficiency of cargo movements and allow the region to fully capitalize on growing international trade.

The project also carries multiple benefits beyond the ports and trade. For example, by eliminating conflicts at 200 street-level railroad crossings where traffic had to wait for trains to pass, the Alameda Corridor will ease traffic congestion and dramatically cut air pollution from slow-moving trains and idling trucks and cars.

Together, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles form the nation's busiest port complex (and third busiest in the world), handling approximately one-quarter of all waterborne cargo arriving in the United States. Cargo container volumes doubled at the ports in the 1990s and are projected to triple by 2020.

Here's a look at some of the milestones achieved in recent months on the Alameda Corridor project:

In the North End, the Redondo Junction Grade Separation was dedicated in August during a ceremony attended by top transportation officials from throughout the country, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. The Redondo Junction Grade Separation carries Amtrak and Metrolink passenger trains over the Alameda Corridor mainline, other cargo rail lines and surface streets. Related projects to eliminate conflicts between freight trains, passenger trains and street traffic are nearing completion, including the Santa Fe Avenue Grade Separation.

In the Mid-Corridor area, excavation of the 10-mile-long Mid-Corridor Trench was completed in September. All of the 27,000 pilings are in place, and the entire length of the trench has been reinforced with high-strength concrete. Installation of railroad tracks is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Meanwhile, all 30 bridges over the trench have been completed and opened to traffic.

In the South End, construction of girders, concrete decks and related work continues on the Henry Ford Avenue Grade Separation. This is a mile-long project that will separate the Alameda Corridor mainline from Henry Ford Avenue, widen the avenue's vehicle bridge over Dominguez Channel and improve the avenue's onramps and offramps at the Terminal Island Freeway.

Elsewhere, preliminary design and right-of-way acquisition work has begun on the Pacific Coast Highway Grade Separation that will carry PCH vehicle traffic over the Alameda Corridor mainline, other rail lines and Alameda Street. ACTA and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) approved an agreement in July that calls for ACTA to manage design and construction of the project.

These are only some of the many projects that make up the Alameda Corridor.

Construction began in 1997 under the direction of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, a joint powers agency formed by the cities and ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.