When it comes to transportation solutions, David Alba thinks off the grid – and on the GRID.
Alba, a former supervisor at the Port of Long Beach, believes he has a brilliant solution to relieving container truck congestion on the Long Beach (710) and San Gabriel River (605) freeways. It’s an idea that would cost tens of billions, but also, he claims, would save billions in planned freeway expansions.
Alba proposes GRID – Gabriel River Infrastructure Development. The proposal calls for building a trench filled with huge pipelines along the banks of the San Gabriel River that would carry electric freight trains from the ports to the Inland Empire. The containers would be placed directly on the trains via a “superdock” at the combined ports.
Once the cargo containers reach the terminus of the electric rail in the Inland Empire, they would be off-loaded to awaiting freight trains to transport them east and to other destinations. Local cargo would be trucked back west.
“This is a project of national significance,” said Alba, who planned to meet with California congressional representatives about the idea at last week’s Transportation and Infrastructure Convention in Washington, D.C. “We want to greatly reduce freeway congestion and trucker traffic.”
Alba presented the idea to the Pasadena and Foothill chapter of the American Institute of Architects in February. However, Long Beach and Los Angeles port officials said they haven’t heard of it.
Once introduced to the concept, Port of Los Angeles spokesman Phillip Sanfield said, “This is not a project that the Port of L.A. believes is feasible at this time.”
He said the L.A. port has already investigated the costs of what it calls zero-emission container movement systems – or, an electric system to move containers off ships onto awaiting railcars or trucks – and determined such systems are too expensive. However, he noted, the port is studying building a lane on the Long Beach Freeway for electric cargo trucks.
Alba also envisions burying existing power lines along the San Gabriel River, freeing up space along the river right-of-way for eco-friendly housing, walkways and bike paths.
Alba, who now identifies himself as a “project systems designer,” has founded a company that would help build port terminals needed for GRID.
