Public benefit key to Colton Crossing deal

Efforts to save a $202-million railroad overpass in Colton, Calif., are on track, but an agreement between two railroads and local officials faces a high bar when a state commission will decide if the agreement shows the public will benefit enough, The Press-Enterprise reports.

San Bernardino Associated
Governments board members approved the agreement with Union Pacific and BNSF officials
on April 7. Under the deal, more commuter trains are planned, as well as trains
passing more quietly through Colton.

The California
Transportation Commission will decide April 8 if drivers and the public receive
enough from the project to justify $97.3 million in state money.

The funds, part of the
Prop. 1B transportation bond voters approved in 2006, is needed if the project
can begin in 2011. The state money is also necessary for the project to receive
$33.8 million in federal stimulus funds.

If the money comes, plans
call for raising the Union Pacific tracks via an overpass atop the BNSF rail
lines.

Receiving state
transportation commission approval — and the millions of dollars that follow
it — is going to require the railroads to negotiate with local officials and
specifically outline more public benefit, said Joe Tavaglione of Riverside.

"We just want them
to work with us," Tavaglione said. "They have not budged."

But officials are close
to an agreeable deal, after some last-minute maneuvering, officials said. San
Bernardino County’s transportation agency approved a tentative agreement April
7 that will allow the Colton Crossing project to go forward while also
extracting promises from the railroad companies for increased passenger rail
service and other improvements.

The SANBAG board gave
their blessings to two agreements that will be finalized by executive director
Deborah Barmack and subcommittees of the board. One describes public benefits
that the railroads will provide regionally, while the other focuses on
improvements specifically in Colton.

Tavaglione and other
state transportation commissioners had not seen the agreement, but stressed it
needed to give Southern California something more.

"This is a public
project, and it should benefit the public," said Larry Zarian of Glendale,
vice chairman of the state transportation commission.

The lack of public
benefit led to the hasty negotiations of the past two weeks. The state
commission rejected an earlier deal, citing the lack of compromise offered by
the railroads, and the lack of defined public benefits.

The updated agreements
are a shift in position for SANBAG, which had earlier opposed the use of state
transportation dollars for the Colton Crossing.

One of the most
sought-after concessions in the larger agreement allows for access to freight
tracks for commuter trains. Four additional Metrolink trains between Riverside
and San Bernardino for a total of 12 commuter trains would have access to the
BNSF line once the Colton Crossing is completed. Two more trains could also be
added in the future.

Union Pacific also will pay
for a study looking at the possibility of extending Metrolink service to the
Coachella Valley, with service from Colton to Indio.

The two railroads will
also provide property for a commuter service project in Redlands and an
easement in Los Angeles for the Gold Line rail service, prohibiting
construction of any structures near Chinatown without approval of the
Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

The Colton agreement
includes $17 million in railroad improvements to address the city’s concerns
about traffic, noise and safety.