California Transportation Commission allocates state funds for ACE grade separation

The California Transportation Commission on Wednesday voted to program $18.3 million in state bond funds for the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority's (ACE) Fullerton Road grade separation project in Industry and unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Funds from the Highway Railroad Crossing Safety Account will permit construction on the $142.9 million project to begin in 2016. Now in the final engineering and design stage, the project calls for constructing a six-lane roadway underpass on Fullerton Road beneath a Union Pacific Railroad line, as well as building a four-track railroad bridge and a Railroad Street bridge spanning Fullerton Road. In addition, Gale Avenue will be lowered at the Fullerton Road intersection.

The project is ranked No. 3 in Los Angeles County on the California Public Utilities Commission's grade separation priority List, ACE officials said in a press release. The project would reduce an estimated 50.4 vehicle-hours of delays each day at the existing grade crossing, which is used by 49 trains daily. The Federal Railroad Administration has recorded two train-vehicle collisions at the crossing in the past 10 years.

"Once complete, the Fullerton Road project will eliminate crossing collisions and congestion, emergency vehicle delays and train-horn noise, as well as reduce emissions from idling vehicles stopped for trains," said ACE Chair Norma Macias.

The project is part of an ACE program involving the construction of 21 grade separations in the San Gabriel Valley along freight-rail mainlines used to move goods to and from San Pedro Bay ports.