Port engineers are studying a $1.3 billion rail system expansion within the harbor complex to handle growing container volumes in coming decades.Proposals in the draft Rail Master Plan include construction of a $200 million near-dock rail transfer yard, $400 million for on-dock rail improvements and more efficient use of the Alameda Corridor to downtown Los Angeles.The draft plan will be presented at 9 a.m. Monday to Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissioners in their chambers at 925 Harbor Plaza Drive.The plan outlines dozens of options for expanding and improving rail lines leading out of the ports. Port authorities hope to increase rail usage to reduce truck traffic and handle container volume expected to triple in the next 25 years.Between the two ports, Long Beach has the most need.Studies show on-dock rail usage at the Port of Long Beach this year represents about 17.6 percent of the port's total container throughput, which planners hope to expand to at least 35 percent by 2030.In the Port of Los Angeles, nearly 29 percent of containers are loaded directly onto railcars for transport inland.
The master plan notes Piers A, F, G and J in Long Beach have insufficient rail trackage and Piers C and E have no tracks.Existing rail tracks are expected to reach capacity in five to seven years, requiring significant investments in new tracks and storage yards.The proposed $200 million near-dock rail transfer yard, funded by the Port of Los Angeles, would sit west of the Terminal Island (47) Freeway between Sepulveda Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway and would handle about 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent containers annually, according to the report.That proposal has run into strong community opposition by those concerned that a busy railyard next to Hudson Elementary School and a neighboring park would harm the health of local children and area residents.Supporters contend that the yard would reduce truck traffic throughout the region and would use the latest technologies to reduce emissions and noise.The Port of Los Angeles, which has backed the project, stresses that the near-dock transfer yard is only in the proposal stage and an environmental impact report has not yet been created.