Huntington Park settles dispute over Alameda Corridor.

In the first settlement of its kind, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have agreed to give $2 million to the city of Huntington Park to mitigate construction problems associated with the Alameda Corridor.

The settlement makes Huntington Park the first of six small southeastern Los Angeles County cities to reach an accord with the two ports over the corridor - a planned high-speed railroad line designed to speed cargo from the seaports to the railyards and distribution centers near downtown LA.

Since the project's announcement, Huntington Park and its neighbors have expressed concern that construction of the corridor - essentially a 20-mile long, 20-foot deep trench along the length of Alameda Street - would wreak havoc with local traffic patterns and exact a heavy toll on retail and other commercial activity.

As a result. the cities have been demanding that the ports - which are financing the bulk of the $1.8 billion endeavor - provide funds to mitigate the negative effects of the construction.

Four of those cities - Vernon, Compton, Lynwood and South Gate - have also filed suit against the ports to gain some control over corridor spending. That suit is awaiting appeal before the State Supreme Court.

The other city along the route (with the exception of Long Beach and Los Angeles) is Carson, which has been negotiating independently with the ports over mitigation.

Port of Long Beach spokeswoman Yvonne Avila said the ports are involved in separate settlement negotiations with several cities along the corridor's proposed route, which she refused to identify.

Under the terms of Huntington Park's $2 million settlement with the ports, the city promises not to file or support any future litigation against the corridor project and agrees to expedite any permitting required in construction of the corridor.

Huntington Park Mayor Tom Jackson called the deal "a great thing."

"When the construction starts, we will be capable of mitigating any problems." Jackson said. "We want to make sure that our business community is not harmed."

Huntington Park will receive half of the $2 million within the next 30 days: the remainder will be paid out over the next three years, according to Gill Hicks, general manager of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, the entity charged with designing and building the project.

The settlement was met with dismay by Albert Robles, a transportation consultant for the city of Vernon and general manager of the Southeast Corridor Transportation Authority, a regional group which formed to deal with Alameda Corridor-related issues.

"I think it's unfortunate," Robles said. "The city of Huntington Park is using these moneys as a short term fix and forgetting the long-term problems of the entire region."

Last August, the four cities suing the ports reached a joint $17.5 million settlement. But that deal collapsed after the city of Lynwood pulled out. Among other things, Lynwood objected to a provision that would have given Huntington Park a share of the settlement.