Photo of San Pedro Branch bridge in West Long Beach from the EIR.
Two weeks ago, residents of North Long Beach and Lakewood were inconvenienced by repair work on the “San Pedro Branch” railroad as it crosses Del Amo Boulevard. Seemingly innocuous as this length is not often in service, this railroad used to continue past Carson Street, through Central Long Beach and Downtown, until ultimately reaching Terminal Island. The track cut through what is now the Willow Springs Park to follow Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue [formerly California Avenue] until intersecting Alamitos Avenue and turning west onto Ocean Boulevard. At the time, it was an essential route connecting the burgeoning ports in San Pedro Harbor to the nation.
The rise of the Pacific Electric Railroad streetcar network and the growth of port industry, however, both contributed to the realignment of the San Pedro Branch railroad during the middle of the 20th century. This realignment involved bypassing central Long Beach and the Downtown commercial district, in favor of the less-populated western edge of the city. The width of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, formerly to accommodate the railroad, provided the necessary width for the landscaped medians on this avenue north of Pacific Coast Highway, as well as for the future Armory Park at 7th Street.
After various consolidations of rail companies throughout the 20th century, the realigned railroad line was ultimately purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad as part of a freight connection between the port and their large truck-to-rail facility in the City of Commerce. The nearly twenty-mile route through south Los Angeles County inevitably runs alongside various neighborhoods and schools.
The trains traversing this route—sometimes more than two miles in length from engine to caboose—disturb backyards and recess areas with visual and noise pollution, not to mention the health impacts related to breathing particulate matter emanating from diesel locomotives.
The San Pedro Branch was Union Pacific’s primary rail corridor until the right-of-way was acquired by the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in 1995 as part of the development of the Alameda Corridor. The Alameda Corridor was created to provide a consolidated, efficient rail connection between the port complex and railyards in East Los Angeles. The San Pedro Branch remains available as an auxiliary connection while continuing to provide local service. While it does travel similar environments as the San Pedro Branch, the Alameda Corridor’s more direct route is adjacent to fewer neighborhoods; additionally, the tracks’ depression below grade reduces visual and noise pollution, while making it easier for roads to run above the tracks.
Despite these changes, the San Pedro Branch remains a fixture of the built environment as it runs through North and West Long Beach; for instance, it demarcates Bixby Knolls from North Long Beach, and slices the Arlington neighborhood in two. The eight rail bridges in North and West Long Beach host artwork, both city-sponsored murals and unsanctioned graffiti. Indeed, the mural project for the railroad bridges along Del Amo Boulevard is proceeding forward with a community design meeting a week ago.
There are more significant changes potentially afoot along the San Pedro Branch in Carson and West Long Beach, as part of various infrastructure projects. These projects can potentially further negatively affect residents, but possibilities also exist to alter course so as to help heal these communities. As the two particular projects are still in their environmental review period, their ultimate impact remains to be seen.
Specifically, Burlington North Santa Fe is proposing a 150-acre cargo transfer facility just west of Long Beach—between Willow Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles, adjacent to the San Pedro Branch. Dubbed the “Southern California International Gateway,” the development would reconstruct nearly three miles of the San Pedro Branch. This would include at least three grade separations, as well as replacing the historically significant bridge over Willow Street.
The Southern California International Gateway plan proposes utilizing portions of the San Pedro Branch for the purpose of breaking down the trains into shorter segments, to fit within their facility. The plan also proposes using other portions of the track for storing and servicing trains. The concern from residents is that these tracks are close to a half dozen schools and hundreds of homes. This would result in increased noise, visual, and air pollution for this already-impacted community.
With these potential negative consequences of the plan in mind, the proposal to have an entry to the railyard from the north should be reconsidered, given that it would bring trains closer to schools and residences. Additionally, storage tracks should be located south of their proposed location; they would then be more appropriately placed near industrial areas. Given that a three-mile length of the San Pedro Branch is slated to be rebuilt under this plan, the opportunity exists to realign this stretch of track away from the residents.
Many other aspects of the Southern California International Gateway remain contested by community stakeholders and local agencies, but these relatively simply changes could significantly reduce the potential impacts from the plan.
Another contested infrastructure project involves expanding the I-710 freeway between the Port of Long Beach and the 60 freeway twenty miles north. Many aspects of this freeway project concern community stakeholders, including its scale (it would be the largest public infrastructure project in the nation) and the volume of additional trucks on the corridor.
Among many proposed project component is replacing the bridges carrying the San Pedro Branch railroad over the 710 Freeway to accommodate the additional travel lanes. Reconstructing this length of the San Pedro Branch would provide the opportunity to realign the track and bridge so that it bypasses Carson and West Long Beach. As it stands, the rail line is less than two-thirds of a mile from the Alameda Corridor; there are multiple unused right-of-ways in this industrial area north of Dominguez Street in Carson to create a direct connection between the two lines. Typically the most difficult part of developing any rail line is acquiring needed land, yet in this case there are available corridors appropriately located within industry.
Such a realignment would avoid over three miles of track traveling through residential communities and schools, while potentially allowing West Long Beach to be a more integrated community. Ideally, the land of this portion of the San Pedro Branch could be repurposed for community uses, such as public park space and bike/jogging paths. Even if redundancy must be maintained through this length from the San Pedro Branch for emergency purposes, this portion of the track could be maintained solely as an auxiliary route. Creating this bypass to the Alameda Corridor could actually better serve the region’s freight infrastructure by providing a useful connection between the two routes outside of the port complex.
The San Pedro Branch railroad has been a fixture in Long Beach and surrounding communities, providing many challenges to public health and continuity of the urban fabric. It has been realigned in the past to better serve industry and be less damaging to the community. With significant investment already proposed for this corridor, we have a golden opportunity to make new changes for the better.
Notice: The Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Southern California International Gateway has been released by the Port of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners will be voting to certified the project EIR on Thursday, March 7th at 8:30AM. The EIR is available on the Port of Los Angeles website.
Southern California International Gateway Final Environmental Impact Report by