advertisement

---

The Port of Los Angeles recently extended the public comment and review period for a Draft Environmental Impact Report for BNSF Railway Co.’s proposed Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) facility from Dec. 22 to Feb. 1, 2012.

An intermodal yard to be built on outer port property, the SCIG is designed to be the greenest intermodal facility in the United States, according to BNSF. The $500 million facility would feature wide-span electric cranes, ultra-low-emission switchers and low-emission yard equipment.

The terminal will enable containers to be loaded onto rail cars four miles from docks at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach instead of being transported 24 miles on local roads and a freeway to downtown rail facilities. About 1.5 million more containers will move through the Alameda Corridor each year because of the SCIG, greatly reducing truck traffic congestion in the area, according to BNSF.

During the project’s three-year construction phase — which might begin in 2013 — about 1,500 jobs would be created annually. After the terminal is completed, the SCIG will create up to 14,000 new direct and indirect jobs in Los Angeles, as well as 22,000 new direct and indirect jobs in southern California by 2036, according to a IHS Global Insight study.