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Alameda Corridor
Los Angeles, California
The Alameda Corridor is a 20-mile-long freight rail expressway linking the nation's two busiest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, to the rail yards near downtown Los Angeles. The project is comprised of a series of bridge overpasses and underpasses that completely separate rail traffic from transverse rail and roadway traffic. Its primary purpose is to accommodate the increase of cargo containers moving through the ports, while minimizing the impact on local communities. Nearly 10 million containers are now handled at the ports.
The project's signature element is a $783 million mid-corridor railway trench, a below-grade open trainway that is 30 feet deep and lies between two adjacent major roadways. Constructed in just two years, the trench was built through urban areas using the design/build concept and incorporating additional roadway improvements.
The project consolidated rail traffic from four existing branch lines. Average speeds in the corridor are 30-40 mph, compared with 10-15 mph on the traditional branch lines. Trains now make the trip to and from the ports to the downtown rail yards in less than 45 minutes, whereas previously it could take over two hours. The corridor is designed to accommodate the over 100 daily train movements anticipated by 2020, compared with the current 35 train movements a day. Since the opening of the Alameda Corridor, branch lines are now used for local traffic only. This shift of rail traffic to the grade-separated corridor has increased public safety by eliminating at-grade crossings on the corridor and considerably reduced train movements at nearly 200 grade crossings on the branch lines.
Owner: Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority
Entrant: Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority and Alameda Corridor Engineering Team
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