Los Angeles (LOSSAN Rail Corridor Improvement Project)
LOSSAN Rail Corridor
San Diego County, California
(November 1996)
| Description | The Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) is implementing a long-range plan to improve the safety, capacity and speed of inter-city rail service between Los Angeles and San Diego. The corridor improvements include three grade-separation projects in Commerce in Los Angeles County, Fullerton in Orange County, and Solana Beach in San Diego County. Total project costs are $31.18 million. |
| Status | Section 3035 (g) of ISTEA directed FTA to enter into a multi-year grant agreement with the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) for track and safety improvements in the corridor, and authorized $20.0 million in Section 5309 New Start funds. Through FY 1997, Congress has appropriated $19.9 million in Section 5309 New Start funds for this project.
All environmental work has been completed and the three projects are underway. The Fullerton project received $6.7 million of the appropriated funds. The Solana Beach project received $6.7 million in the 1996 appropriation. The project design is complete and construction has begun. The City of Commerce received $3.3 million of the initial appropriation, $3.2 million of the 1996 appropriation, and $1.5 million of the 1997 appropriation. The project design is complete and construction has begun. |
| Justification
| The project is exempt from the New Start criteria because the Section 5309 share is less than $25 million.
Mobility Improvements: The current LOSSAN rail trip takes 2 hours 50 minutes between San Diego and Los Angeles. The ultimate goal is to reduce travel time to 2 hours 15 minutes, after all improvements are complete. The grade-separation projects will decrease travel time by making it possible to raise speed limits through the formerly hazardous crossings.
Cost Effectiveness: No significant increase in new riders is anticipated.
Environmental Benefits: Heavy auto and truck traffic congestion at the Telegraph Road grade-separation is exacerbated by lane imbalances which will be resolved with completion of the project. Lomas Santa Fe Drive is the only east-west arterial access across the railroad tracks within the City of Solana Beach. Volume exceeds 45,000 Average Daily Traffic (ADT) and the closing of the road for at-grade crossing of multiple commuter, inter-city and freight trains causes congestion and its resultant emissions at the grade crossings.
The project is part of a larger effort to develop the high-speed rail corridor, which is intended to decrease demand in the region for more freeway and airport capacity.
Operating Efficiencies: The impact of the project grade safety improvements on operating cost is negligible. |
| Local Financial Commitment
| The State and local financial commitment of $11.28 million equals 36 percent of the total project cost. This amount is apart from the total capital improvements completed in the corridor with state and local funds, in excess of $200 million. |
| Proposed
Source of Funds | Total Funding ($million) | |||
| Federal: | ||||
| Section 5309 New Start | $19.90 | ($19.90 million appropriated through FY 1997) | ||
| State and Local: | $11.28 | |||
| TOTAL | $31.18 | |||
| NOTE: Funding proposal reflects assumptions made by project sponsors, and are not DOT or FTA assumptions. | ||||
Other Factors: In 1992, the USDOT designated five corridors nationwide to be developed into high-speed rail corridors. One of the five is the San Diego-Sacramento route, of which the LOSSAN corridor is the southern-most segment.
