Key vote near on railway trench link between port and East L.A.

A massive trench would be dug through central Los Angeles County for 10 miles to carry non-stop train traffic as part of a $1.3 billion transit project expected to be approved this week.

Members of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority are scheduled to vote Dec. 10 on their so-called Alameda Corridor Project to construct a new thoroughfare for trains and trucks to speed international cargo between the harbor and East Los Angeles.

The 20-mile-long conduit, roughly paralleling Alameda Street, was originally envisioned entirely above ground. But half of the train bed is now planned for below street level, board members said.

That change is a major concession to local businesses and residents along the route in Compton, Vernon, Huntington Park, Lynwood and South Gate. Owners are worried about access to their properties, noise and forced relocation from sites next to an above-ground train bed.

"All the cities are in agreement on a depressed railroad," said Tom Jackson, the authority's vice chairman and a city councilman from Huntington Park. Residents of that city look forward to the day when they don't have to wait 20-30 minutes at railway crossings for a cargo train to pass, he said.

"When we have upwards of 100 trains coming through our city each day, we won't even know a depressed railroad is there (because) it muffles the sound, the ground doesn't shake and there'll be little bridges over it," Jackson said.

The 15-member authority, which oversees the project, is scheduled to meet in Carson Thursday and will likely approve the sub-surface idea, predicted Jackson.

"Politically, that's the solution that has a chance of being selected," said authority General Manager Gill Hicks, who drew up the recommendation.

Also, the panel is expected to approve the project's environmental assessment, clearing the way for preliminary engineering next year and construction to begin by 1995, said Hicks.

But the sunken approach will add $300 million to the project's $1 billion price tag, the environmental report estimated. That's because a colossal earth-moving job will be required excavate a trench 10 miles long, 33 feet deep and wide enough for two train beds. Total costs will mostly be paid by the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach and the U.S. government.

Also, officials cannot count their chickens just yet: Southern Pacific Transportation Co. owns the centerpiece right-of-way and has not agreed to the authority's bid price. Negotiators won't disclose bid or ask prices for the 18-mile strip of land, said Hicks.

Jackson downplayed the suggestion last week that the authority is weakening its hand by deepening its commitment without the key land deal. He said it's in the railroad's interest to sell, to get more cargo moving.

The project would consolidate various rail and truck routes scattered throughout the county onto just one, north-south corridor -- largely Southern Pacific land. With sunken roadways, plus bridges and underpasses at major intersections, non-stop trains and trucks can better speed international cargo between the twin ports and East L.A., where rail yards and freeways connect eastward. Maximum speeds would rise from 20 m.p.h. today to 40 m.p.h.

The corridor represents a long-time desire of port officials and foreign-trade interests.

But delegates from the affected cities, some of whom sit on the authority's ruling board, long pushed for the trench.

According to the environmental report, the below-surface plan would disrupt cities far less. Some 139 businesses employing 1,755 workers would need to be relocated, plus 13 homes. The street-level plan envisioned uprooting far more -- 341 businesses, employing 3,525 workers, plus 327 homes.

The trench would also lessen the need to build noise barriers and big bridges, which would become targets for vandals and graffiti artists, said officials.

The below-surface portion would run north of the Artesia (91) Freeway to 25th Street. It could not extend south because southern rail yards must be accessible to trains, and because of difficulties tunneling under Compton Creek, said Hicks.

Port officials want to consolidate truck-and-rail routes for many reasons.

They plan to build six more rail yards right on the waterfront to allow cargo containers to be loaded directly from ship, rather than trucked a few miles to a rail yard, as done today. But bringing trains right onto the dock brings much more noise into port-area neighborhoods because many use competing lines run by Santa Fe and Union Pacific. That would likely stir up opposition of local residents, officials said.