Federal stimulus money to fix train bottleneck in Colton

Southern California is famous for its traffic jams. The federal Department of Transportation says it’ll allocate almost $34 million federal stimulus dollars to fix a freight train bottleneck in Colton.

People describe that bottleneck as “one of the most significant choke points” in the supply line that moves freight in and out of the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor.

Two rail lines — the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe — cross paths in Colton. At its peak a couple of years ago, more than a hundred trains a day used that crossing — or waited patiently in line until other trains crossed ahead of them.

Motorists won’t have to wait as long, either — the fix reduces delays for motorists at 24 rail-highway grade crossings affected by the Colton Crossing railway congestion.

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The federal stimulus award known as a “Tiger” grant will combine with state and railroad money to pay for the nearly $200 million project. The ports of L.A. and Long Beach handle 40 percent of the nation’s container traffic; 60 percent of that moves eastward through Colton.