Alameda Corridor Agency Awards Large Contract for Expressway Work

MAY 19, 1999

LOS ANGELES COUNTY – The public agency building the Alameda Corridor rail cargo expressway awarded a $35,796,745 contract Wednesday for construction of a vehicle underpass and an overpass at a critical location along Washington Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue.

The Governing Board of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) awarded the contract to Steve P. Rados, Inc., of LA County, which submitted the lowest responsive bid. It was among the largest remaining contracts for the $2.4 billion Alameda Corridor.

The contract calls for lowering Washington Boulevard to create an underpass separating vehicle and pedestrian traffic from rail traffic on the corridor, and realigning an existing rail bridge east of the new underpass. The contract also will create a new Santa Fe Avenue bridge over the corridor tracks between 25th Street and 15th Street in Los Angeles.

The project, known as the Washington Boulevard/ Santa Fe grade separation, also will increase storm-drain capacity and relocate culverts.

ACTA is a joint-powers authority between the cities and ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The Alameda Corridor is a 20-mile railroad freight expressway linking the ports to the transcontinental rail yards just east of downtown Los Angeles. When completed in early-2002, the project will speed the shipment of cargo and improve the flow of rail and vehicle traffic by consolidating rail lines and eliminating conflicts at nearly 200 street-level railroad crossings.

The Washington Boulevard/Santa Fe Avenue grade separation work is a central element of the corridor’s north end project area, where cargo trains begin to leave the expressway and disperse to the rail yards. It will significantly reduce congestion on surface streets, where vehicles now must wait for trains to pass.

Construction of the Washington Boulevard/Santa Fe Avenue grade separation is scheduled to begin this summer and conclude in late-2001.