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Connectivity: Long Beach

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Long Beach: Port Completes 'Green Port Gateway' Rail Project

The Port of Long Beach on September 16 marked the completion of a $93 million rail project seen as vital for improving the efficiency and sustainability of cargo movement.

The "Green Port Gateway" project – funded in part with state and federal transportation dollars – realigned a critical rail pathway to relieve a bottleneck, allowing port terminals to increase their use of on-dock rail while decreasing truck traffic and air pollution. The upgrades will serve the port’s southeast terminals, including the new Middle Harbor terminal.

The work included adding a third rail line under Ocean Boulevard, along with new retaining walls, utility line modifications, and roadway improvements. The process entailed the laying of almost six miles of new track.

The California State Transportation Agency, California Transportation Commission and CalTrans helped with $23.1 million from the state’s Proposition 1B Trade Corridor Improvement Fund. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration assisted with $17 million from the TIGER III program.

"This project will enable us to reach our goal of moving 35 percent of containerized cargo via on-dock rail this decade," said Port CEO Jon Slangerup said. "It will also support our long-range ambition to eventually move 50 percent of our goods directly from terminals by train."

The port plans $1 billion in rail projects over the next decade as part of a broader modernization program to strengthen the port’s competitiveness and reduce port-related environmental impacts. According to the port, every on-dock rail train eliminates up to 750 truck trips from regional roadways.

Views of Long Beach’s newly completed Green Port Gateway.
Photos/Port of Long Beach

 

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