For the last few years BNSF and UP, in conjunction with the San Bernardino Association of Governments (SANBAG), etc., have been working toward a grade separation between BNSF and UP estimated to cost nearly $200 million. California voters even approved bond money for the project. Now, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) has rule against the project. – See TRAINS Newswire, March 26, 2010.
The crossing. BNSF’s Transcon is the cross tracks, with Chicago to the left. UP’s Sunset Route is the near-far alignment, with El Paso away from the camera.
Because of agreements between BNSF and UP related to the future grade separation, the railroads changed their financial arrangements related to the crossing. That will not easily be reversed. It would appear the CTC has opened itself up to financial liability in denying the costly grade separation. It would seem they should have done that several years ago, and not after everything was in place.
UP took over maintenance on the crossing, and soon installed new diamonds with heavy cranes. The view above is an hour or two after four new diamonds were dropped into place in a great blitz. This and the first photo above originally were posted several months ago in the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread.
In response, will the railroads now nuke the State of California in the courts to either get their way or recover monetary damages?
The next few weeks should prove to be legally very interesting for the Colton Crossing effort as various in
The issue seems to be that there is insufficient “public benefit” to justify the California expenditure on the project. Not being that familiar with the area, are trains stopped by traffic at the crossing blocking any street crossings? What about delays to commuter and California regional passenger trains?
It sure seems to be a very late date in the planning process to just discover that there won’t be enough public benefit to justify state money. That element of the planning process for determining public benefit is fairly well established and widely used on rail projects all over the country.
Methinks it’s probably more closely related to state budget issues than anything else. That there is not enough public benefit is just the mechanism by which they cut the funding.
I think this may be more than budget…we have so many “tree huggers” in control here in CA that are hostile to rail traffic and this just may be another back door attack.
I really doubt its treehuggers, I think were seeing a increasing Spend-Nothing-on-Anything-Anywhere attitude rearing its ugly head as the budget still festers. I expect to hear about state funding cuts to the HST and to local Metrorail projects here in SoCal sometime soon as Sacramento tries to sit on what little coin they still have.
Well, at least some railroad welders will retain guaranteed employment. This is where the BNSF (ATSF) and UP (SP) double main track Transcons cross going into and out of LA.
Any flyover will require Caltrans to be involved because they stupidly had to parallel SP so closely when they built the 10 freeway to appease the Nimbys that are now on the rail transit bandwagon.
Colton crossing was my introduction into railroading in Southern California. Have multiple memories (nightmares) of these diamonds…Lost my welders off my territory to this place multiple times because SP (Who was responsible for 3 of the 4 diamonds) was to broke and too cheap to fix broken out frog inserts and the Santa Fe welders assigned here were always swamped or up on the hill. When they (SP) did maintain the things, their workmanship was shoddy at best (like cutting up spikes and welding them into the broken out / chipped out inserts[V]) …The local water table (Santa Ana River and Lytle Creek nearby )around here was only a few feet down, so a flyover almost certainly required you to go UP…
If you put a 10 MPH slow order on the Santa Fe side to cover the crossing frog as it broke-up, the Colton PD and the locals would come unglued over C-Street nearby being blocked to the north.
DC: You are being too kind…I suspect the political spin doctors and local yellow press have already have a plan festering to make the railroad look like the bad guys.
Considering the OTR Industry as a WHOLE wants to NUKE [edited] FORNIA as we now call it They are making the AG boys mad for cutting off water to the Central Valley were 80% of all the VEGGIES for the USA come from. Now they are going to make the RR’s mad boy who is left the Longshoremen when they run the Containerships out of there when they Mandate ULSD for the ships to dock there in 2015 another CARB RULE. Boy should be fun to watch [edited[ fornia come apart at the seams in a couple more years shouldn’t it.
I dunno. I smell the old California bond-issue bait-and-switch ruse, a favorite with state and local entities. Get a tax/bond passed to build some very desirable projects, then three or four years later, orchestrate a “grass roots” (and here we know what kind of “grass” that is) opposition so the funds can be diverted to “vote for me” projects completely different from what was used to sell the tax/bond.
That’s why I have become one of the perpetual “aginners” when these things come up for a vote out here.
Unfortunately, most folks have neither memory or clue about these things so they occasionally get away with one. With any luck, though, the abysmal state of our government finances and just downright criminal schemes may finally get through to the body politic. Well, with a lot of luck I should have said.
I’ll try to get off the soap box now without doing myself a mischief.
When I first read the title of this post my first thought was that BNSF and UP had WMDs:) Well, maybe WMDs as in Wheels of Mass Distribution with their large fleets of 6-axle EMD and GE locos.
$200,000,000.00 for a flyover? As in one RR having a bridge over another RR? Having not seen this area I’m thinking someone added in some zeros after having a few too more to drink.
Over the years, the State of California has developed an anti-business reputation and deservedly so. Regulations, taxation, wage and hour requirements and arbitrary environmental standards have forced companies to move out of state and take their jobs with them. In the Colton Crossing situation, BNSF and UP aren’t able to pick up and go anywhere, but nevertheless, the decision of the CTC will have its long term consequences, none of which will be good for the people of California.
If there ever was an example of a"shovel-ready" project, it looks to me like this was it. The citizens saw its value and voted for of it. It had been largely engineered and was partially funded. I do not know for sure, but suspect that the environmental impact study had long since been approved.
But because “big business” is involved and will derive benefit, Sacramento has to shoot it down. Never mind the jobs created by the construction, ignore the long-term economic efficiencies, forget about the air quality benefits, “big business” needs to be put it its place by the bureaucracy.
It’s one more bad message that California does not need to send to the rest of the world.
Just to add to the speculation. This paragraph is a quote for the article from the Press-Enterprise.
One of the things local leaders would like to see is more access to tracks owned by the railroads for Metrolink commuter trains, said Aaron Hake, legislative director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
Do you have a link to those established elements of the planning process that determine public benefits? They’d make some interesting reading. It does seem strange that the project had the benefits before, but now it doesn’t have the benefits.
FYI, in November 2008 California voters approved a referendum that will shut down commercial egg production in the state by 2015. California consumes around 12 billion eggs per year and half are/were produced within the state. The rest are/were transported in from other states. (That would be about 0.89 eggs per person per day.)
Oh well, it’s an ill wind that blows no one some good. If Californians don’t drastically reduce their egg consumption there will be more long haul transportation opportunities. How many loads will 6 billion eggs from Iowa/Arkansas wherever make?
I know of quite a few truckers and trucking companies that are pulling out of CA because of increased regulations, I.e. requiring side skirts on all trailers, all transport refrigeration units must be registered, all APUs must have particulate filters, etc. Not to sound mean, but hope the people of CA will not complain when their store shelves are empty, because nobody wants to run to CA…
Having lived, with my parents, on their “Chicken Ranch” in Petaluma, CA (“The World’s Egg Basket”), along with thousands of White Leghorn layers (we were egg producers, only), I find this news astounding. Where does California get these “loons” that vote for such silliness? Sorry, I shouldn’t have to ask. I have already advised a friend in Washington State to increase his production. I guess Petaluma has been “Yuppified” and chickens are persona (avis?) non grata. We sold our chicken manure to the lettuce producers of the Salinas valley, the preferred fertilizer. “Organic Loons”, take note. Soon, California will become a net-importer of chicken s***. That might be a good thing! I have had enough of their exports!!! No, this won’t help the comeback of the NWP or the P&SR.
"…For the last few years BNSF and UP, in conjunction with the San Bernardino Association of Governments (SANBAG), etc., have been working toward a grade separation between BNSF and UP estimated to cost nearly $200 million. California voters even approved bond money for the project. Now, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) has rule against the project. – See TRAINS Newswire, March 26, 2010…
…Because of agreements between BNSF and UP related to the future grade separation, the railroads changed their financial arrangements related to the crossing. That will not easily be reversed. It would appear the CTC has opened itself up to financial liability in denying the costly grade separation. It would seem they should have done that several years ago, and not after everything was in place…"
It seems like we have all moved into a Lewis Carrol world (Alice in Wonderland). Who does a political entity (SANBAG) and CALTRANS expect to have any credibility when dealing in or with the Business Community? The way I read this it was pretty much a done deal, approvals given, and taxes had been approved, and voted favorably upon. Everything was set to proceed, and then a State agebcy CTC (Calif. Transportation Comission) rules AGAINST it.
What is the next step? Does the whole process start over again? Has the Tax monies/Bond issue proceeds been spent in other areas (reprioritized by the CTC)?
I woud think the community entities involved who are ajacent to, and effected by the traffic problems caused by the existing railroad trackage issues, would be having a political meltdown, or it it just that one political entity playing hardball with another political entity?
I wish one of the California based members could enlighten all of us here as to their thoughts on this s
