USA: A 2·3 km long, 9 m deep and 20 m wide cutting built at cost of $313m as part of a grade separation project designed to ease traffic congestion in the San Gabriel Valley east of downtown Los Angeles was officially opened by the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority on July 24, eliminating four level crossings.
The lowering of the Union Pacific tracks forms part of a wider programme of grade separations and safety upgrades covering 53 crossings in the San Gabriel Valley, where rail traffic is predicted to double to more than 100 trains/day to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over the next 10 years.
Nine grade separations have now been completed on the route, seven are under construction and three grade separations and five level crossing projects are at the design stage.
