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The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners recently voted in favor of accepting a $17 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) III grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to help fund the “Green Port Gateway,” a project designed to improve rail flow at the Port of Long Beach, Calif.

The $60 million project includes track realignment work and the construction of a Pier F rail support yard. In addition, a third rail line will be added to help remove bottlenecks on the existing mainline and enable port terminals to shift cargo from trucks to trains. The improvements also will minimize derailments and optimize rail traffic flow to the waterfront terminals, board members said in a prepared statement.

The board expects to solicit bids on the project this summer, with construction beginning in early 2013 and taking 19 months to complete.

The $17 million TIGER III grant — which the USDOT awarded to the port in December 2011 — helps increase state and federal contributions to $44 million, allowing the port to move ahead more quickly on the project, board members said.

Green Port Gateway is the first of four rail projects expected to begin in the next year to promote more on-dock rail shipments, they said. The project also is part of the larger San Pedro Bay Ports Rail Enhancement Program, which involves several other projects planned by the Port of Los Angeles and Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.

Meanwhile, the Port of Stockton, Calif., and its switching carrier Central California Traction Co. (CCT) announced the completion of 3,347 feet of new track at the west complex.

Performed by H&H Engineering and managed by CCT, construction was completed on time and within budget, port officials said in a prepared statement.
   
The track provides a complete 21,000-foot loop at the west complex and ties into the two existing 6,000-foot on-dock tracks, they said. In addition, the track will enable two wind generation component trains to be staged and loaded at one time.

“This new trackage gives the port the longest on-dock direct vessel-to-rail discharge tracks on the West Coast,” port officials said.