The $52.3 million award is earmarked for development of the port’s Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility, which once complete, will enable it to move about 35% more cargo by train and serve longer trains more efficiently.
Specifically, the three-segment project will “add a 10,000-foot support track within a critical freight corridor, construct a new support facility for 24 locomotives, add three new yard tracks, and extend five existing tracks to increase operational efficiency for port cargo and enhance safety for rail workers,” according to the DOT announcement.
“This is great news to hear at the end of what will be our busiest year ever,” the port’s Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a statement. “It will help to move cargo more efficiently through the port, getting needed products and goods to homes and businesses across America faster.”
The DOT funding, which totaled
“U.S. maritime ports play a critical role in our supply chains,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “These investments in our nation’s ports will help support American jobs, efficient and resilient operations and faster delivery of goods.”
The Pier B rail facility serves as a storage and staging area for trains and is largely used by Wilmington-based Pacific Harbor Line Inc., which provides rail transportation, maintenance and dispatching services.
The construction of the On-Dock Rail Support Facility is set to begin in late 2023 and be fully completed by 2032. The preliminary construction estimate for the locomotive facility is $15.7 million while Pier B’s rail yard west and east expansion will cost $44.6 million and $24.5 million, respectively.
Additionally, the port said it received a $10 million grant from the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the project under Measure R, I-710 Early Action Fund Program and $16.3 million in federal transportation bill funding managed by Metro and Caltrans.
