The Port of Los Angeles is poised to move forward with a $52 million infrastructure dock improvement that will improve on-dock rail capacity, after the harbor commission OK’d the last lease amendment, finalizing the plans, on Thursday, Sept. 5.
The project is intended to increase cargo capacity and efficiency while also reducing overall emissions. Construction on the project — at Pier 300 and the terminal operated by Fenix Marine Services — is slated to begin in 2025.
The move comes nearly two months after the neighboring Port of Long Beach broke ground on its long-planned, massive Pier B on-dock rail facility.
The Fenix project, harbor commission President Lucille Roybal-Allard said in a written statement, is “yet another step forward toward both our productivity and clean air goals.”
On-dock rail significantly cuts down truck trips — and the emissions that result — while also speeding up cargo movement. officials have said.
“Fewer transfers of cargo results in cleaner operations and more fluidity on our container terminals,” said port Executive Director Gene Seroka.
The project will add five loading/unloading tracks in the intermodal yard at the Pier 300 terminal. The improvement will increase on-dock rail yard capacity and enable more cargo to be loaded directly onto trains within the terminal and is expected to increase container unit capacity to about 520,000 twenty-foot equivalent units a year, according to the commission’s board report.
The expansion will also aid in shifting container loading from off-dock rail yards, which are 27 miles away, to the on-dock facility, reducing up to 2,000 truck trips a day on key freight routes such as the 710 and 110 freeways, and State Route 47.
The project will also be integrated with the Alameda Corridor, a critical rail artery.
Additional improvements will include grading and paving, fire protection, electrical improvements, striping and signage. Additional storm drain elements also will be added.
Grant funding for the project includes some $18 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration and $19 million from California’s Trade Corridor Enhancement Program. The Port of Los Angeles will provide the rest of the funding.
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In January 2022, CMA CGM reacquired 100% of the Fenix Marine Services container terminal. One of the largest terminals in the U.S., Fenix’s deep-water location — at 614 Terminal Way, Berths 302-305, on Terminal Island — and impressive infrastructure put the terminal in a position for ongoing development.
“This investment ensures that there is adequate on-dock intermodal capacity to accommodate future volume growth,” said George Goldman, president and CEO of CMA CGM America.
Shifting cargo to on-dock rail is a key part of plans to reduce emissions caused by trucks.
In July, the Port of Long Beach hosted a large outdoor celebration featuring U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other officials for the groundbreaking of that port’s $1.567 billion Pier B on-dock rail facility.
The Port of Long Beach’s Pier B facility will double the footprint of that existing rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres and is scheduled to be finished in 2032.
