Grade Separation: Colton Crossing
The proposed Colton Crossing project, which is where the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks cross, south of Interstate 10, will build a bridge (also known as a grade separation) to separate the east-west tracks that cross between Rancho Avenue and Mt. Vernon Avenue in Colton.
The bridge is considered a project of national significance, due to the extremely heavy volume of freight carried on both of these railways. Plans call for the elevation of the UP tracks via a bridge over the BNSF tracks, thereby eliminating delays and associated costs of trains having to wait for other trains to cross. This also will improve the flow of passenger trains as well as provide for future increases in both freight and passenger rail traffic at this location.
The $150 million to $200 million project is in the early stages of the process. The Supplemental Project Study Report was approved by Caltrans in January 2006. SANBAG received $2.2 million of Interregional Transportation Improvement Program funds in the 2006 State Transportation Improvement Program to fund preliminary engineering and environmental document development, estimated to be completed by early 2009.
Pending available funding, final design could begin in mid-2009, with construction beginning in 2011 and estimated to take 24 months to complete.