INLAND EMPIRE | Development News

[PragmaticIdealist]

$202 million rails project gets key OK


09:46 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

By DUG BEGLEY
The Press-Enterprise


A Colton railroad overpass meant to unclog a crowded Southern California freight corridor has been approved by a key state panel, ending a two-month logjam that jeopardized the $202 million project.

The California Transportation Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to spend $91 million in state transportation bond money to build the Colton Crossing. The decision also frees $33.8 million in federal stimulus money for the project.

State commissioners signed off on an agreement that will ease automobile traffic, provide noise relief to Colton residents and expand commuter train service in the Inland area.

The overpass will untie a 128-year-old intersection where Union Pacific Railroad tracks and BNSF Railway lines cross. Trains wait daily as cross-traffic makes its way in and out of Southern California, spewing diesel emissions into a Colton neighborhood.

Both railroads have long sought federal and state money to separate the lines. The project was recommended to receive $97.3 million from the Prop. 1B transportation bond state voters approved in 2006, but it wasn't until the railroads were selected to receive federal stimulus money earlier this year that the project gained momentum.

With both state and federal money in place, the railroads moved forward with plans for the overpass, which will raise the east-west Union Pacific tracks over the north-south BNSF line. The railroads will pay $73.2 million for the project.

But local and state officials remained wary of the project because it appeared to benefit the railroads more than the public, although the public is paying most of the cost. State transportation commissioners in March rejected an earlier deal and directed the railroads and Southern California Transportation officials to try again.

That led to seven weeks of hasty negotiations among railroad and regional transportation officials.

Commissioner Joseph Tavaglione of Riverside called the agreement "a great deal" that is fair to all parties, including taxpayers.

"I would not have voted for it if I didn't think it was something that we really need," he said after the vote. "It'll do a lot for the cities. There are a lot of folks over there who are breathing that stuff."

Tavaglione added that he also didn't want to lose the $33.8 million in federal money. That would set the project back years, he said. "I'm happy to see it all put together and put to bed."

The project is expected to create more than 900 jobs when construction starts in late 2011, officials said.

quieter, safer travel

The agreement signed earlier this month between the railroads and the Southern California Consensus Group -- a consortium of regional transportation agencies -- includes provisions that officials said will give drivers and Colton residents relief.

A separate agreement between the railroads, Colton officials and San Bernardino Associated Governments outlines plans for an automobile underpass at Laurel Avenue, north of Interstate 10, and improvements along the BNSF tracks that will allow trains to pass through the residential area without blowing their horns.

"The concerns of the residents were mainly noise," said Colton Mayor Kelly Chastain.

Abandoning a rail spur along the Union Pacific tracks south of I-10 near Ninth Street is another important change, Chastain said.

"That's major because the trains would sit there and kids would cross there," she said, noting how children climbed between the parked railcars.

Colton will also close off E and H streets at the railroad tracks to eliminate vehicle crossings.

Easing the bottleneck by building the overpass will allow for more commuter trains in the Inland area, something regional transportation officials said was a must-have in any Colton Crossing deal. Metrolink trains use Union Pacific and BNSF tracks to travel around the region but are limited to certain times to avoid conflicts with freight traffic.

Local transportation officials have said any increase in the number of trains that can pass through the area must include increases in passenger train use.

Railroad and regional transportation officials last month agreed to divert more than $6 million from the Prop. 1B money to rail safety programs in Southern California as part of the overall project agreement.

Reaching the agreement and getting support from transportation officials from coastal Southern California counties required additional concessions from San Bernardino transportation officials.

limited funding

The sour economy has limited how much bond money the state has to spend. Fearing the Colton Crossing would consume tens of millions of dollars when work begins in 2011, transportation officials in Southern California sought assurances that other projects would not face delays waiting on state funds.

To ease those worries, San Bernardino County transportation officials agreed to pull the Devore interchange -- a massive redesign of the Interstate 15/Interstate 215 merger north of San Bernardino -- from the state bond program. The $400 million project had been set to receive $118 million from Prop. 1B bond proceeds.

Construction of the new Devore interchange is scheduled to start in 2013. County officials are confident they can find other state and federal dollars to pay for it, said Ty Schuiling, director of planning and programs for San Bernardino Associated Governments. He said state officials have told county transportation planners they are optimistic the money will be found.

By the time work begins in Devore, officials said they are hopeful Colton Crossing will be helping commuters and freight flow through Southern California.

That didn't always appear to be the case, Chastain said.

"We came from three months ago with little collaboration, to today where we've got a done deal," she said. "And for all agencies involved we have a good project."

Sacramento Bureau reporter Jim Miller contributed to this story.

Reach Dug Begley at 951-368-9475 or dbegley@PE.com

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/...0.9173f41.html

[PragmaticIdealist]

San Bernardino's ongoing Bicentennial Celebration is offering several opportunities for branding and place-making, as with the arrival of the city's Mayor on the A.T.S.F 3751 from Los Angeles during San Bernardino Railroad Days, which were held last weekend.

image hosted on flickr

(Szok)

image hosted on flickr
image hosted on flickr
(Szok)

This annual new event is being planned to eventually rival the huge Route 66 Rendez-vous.

image hosted on flickr
(Szok)

image hosted on flickr
(Szok)

The locomotive 3751 is owned by the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society, which uses the machine in educational programs when the engine isn't pulling trains on special excursions.

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[vidgms]

So I drove by Citrus tower the other day. Its still just a big hole in the ground. At least its moving forward! I didn't get any pictures but if you want to use your imagination. Picture a big hole in the ground and I think you will get it.

[germench]

Originally Posted by vidgms

So I drove by Citrus tower the other day. Its still just a big hole in the ground. At least its moving forward! I didn't get any pictures but if you want to use your imagination. Picture a big hole in the ground and I think you will get it.

For the subterranean parking. It hasn't been that long since they broke ground. I'm assuming the building will open in 2012.

[germench]

Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist

We need to reexamine our relationship to freight, and to the logistics sector, in general. Goods movement, as it exists today and as it grows in the future, is probably the biggest challenge for southern California since we have this unhealthy reliance on that industry to provide blue-collar jobs for the over-abundance of poorly-educated residents in the region. The trade deficit isn't helping, either.

I can just feel the bitterness. As you brushed on before, IE anchor cities, San Bernardino and Riverside need to discover their white collar industries. Something that isn't already replicated at a greater scale in LAC or OC. Riverside, for examples, has put forth a plan to position itself as the region's epicenter for green technology/manufacturing and sustainable innovation to create a "green business district."

The IE is sorely deficient in high-paying white collar jobs. Such an industry would help incentivize professionals to either move to or remain in the IE. This is of particular interest since most planners have noted what's being called the "bright flight." Qualified professionals moving to cities for urban lifestyle and shorter commutes. We stand to lose a lot if we don't move to create that lifestyle here preferably sooner than later.

[PragmaticIdealist]

image hosted on flickr

(KSBD Photo)

Venture capital is another key component. The Million Air executive terminal, hangars, and office space, as well as the surrounding development opportunities at San Bernardino International Airport, which lies within the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone, are likely to help keep more companies inside California because they can find a lower cost of doing business here without having to force their employees to live in the deserts of Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Proposition 13 is also not as big of a factor in the Inland Empire. And, I imagine that the fact San Bernardino lured Charles McNeely away from Reno was no accident since he was noted for his aggressiveness there in stealing businesses from California.

San Bernardino recently established a center for nanotechnology, while the genomics field is a natural extension of U.C. Riverside's specialties. Loma Linda University has been producing some really innovative patents in the health-care field, and I have a feeling that directly connecting E.S.R.I. to light rail (DEMU) is going to raise the region's profile significantly in the tech. industry.

Ultimately, our economy needs to be based more on intellectual property.

[PragmaticIdealist]

The Inland Empire really needs environmental justice.

What does everyone think of the potential for SanBAG and the R.C.T.C. to commission studies of oil consumption in the coastal counties in order to find that it, conceivably, results in pollution blowing inland and of the potential for the two transportation-planning agencies to use these studies as a basis for suing oil consumers in L.A. and Orange Counties?

Raising gas taxes in L.A. and Orange Counties as a way to help fund transit improvements in the Inland Empire could help mitigate the effects of the smog-forming emissions and the particulate matter that the coastal regions send to San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

[germench]

Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist

The Inland Empire really needs environmental justice.

What does everyone think of the potential for SanBAG and the R.C.T.C. to commission studies of oil consumption in the coastal counties in order to find that it, conceivably, results in pollution blowing inland and of the potential for the two transportation-planning agencies to use these studies as a basis for suing oil consumers in L.A. and Orange Counties?

Raising gas taxes in L.A. and Orange Counties as a way to help fund transit improvements in the Inland Empire could help mitigate the effects of the smog-forming emissions and the particulate matter that the coastal regions send to San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

I disagree. It sounds really nice when just considering the potential funds, sure, but I don't think going after LAC and OC is an intelligent strategy or use of funds. I don't think the IE has the firepower to pull it off, even with a favorable study. Such case would be precedent setting, I would think, since it doesn't fall within the existing definition of environmental justice.

Also, LAC, OC, and the IE (with exception to the high deserts in LAC and SBC) are all under the same air quality management district, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). SCAQMD is a regional agency that works directly with SCAG, county transportation commissions, and local governments, and cooperates actively with all state and federal government agencies. SCAQMD develops rules and regulations, establishes permitting requirements, inspects emissions sources, and provides regulatory enforcement through such measures as educational programs or fines, when necessary. SCAQMD is directly responsible for reducing emissions from stationary (area and point), mobile, and indirect sources. Thus, I like to the of the battle for cleaner air quality as a concerted effort wherein LAC and OC are allies.

Further, as each region takes care of its own, the issues will start to fix itself. Keep in mind that SB 375 is statewide litigation. As you've stated before, IE should divorce itself from LA. I think it's a little late for the blame game or to expect we're owed something especially when air quality has improved in the last three decades. Comparatively, isn't the IE more car dependent anyway? Don't we ultimately drive greater distances? We are the notorious "long distance commuters" and even have to drive a great deal to navigate the sprawl of the IE.

[PragmaticIdealist]

It's a chicken-and-egg question.

Did the coastal regions suck the jobs from the Inland Empire first and, thereby, force I.E. residents to commute long distances, or did the smog from all the commuting cause the jobs to be concentrated on the coast because that is where the high-end talent prefers to live?

[pesto]

There's lots of cheap neighborhoods in LA and surrounding areas, mostly black and Hispanic. But the IE people chose not to live there and instead foul the air with their cars and SUV's. Maybe they should be sued for environmental damaage as well as for acting out their racial hatred. Sounds like a hate crime to me.

Historically, the law has not protected adult individuals of normal intelligence from the results of their own decisions (although I admit that this has been waning with the advent of the "I'm entitled" society). But once you head down this direction, you better make sure your own ass is spotless.

[vidgms]

Originally Posted by pesto

There's lots of cheap neighborhoods in LA and surrounding areas, mostly black and Hispanic. But the IE people chose not to live there and instead foul the air with their cars and SUV's. Maybe they should be sued for environmental damaage as well as for acting out their racial hatred. Sounds like a hate crime to me.

Historically, the law has not protected adult individuals of normal intelligence from the results of their own decisions (although I admit that this has been waning with the advent of the "I'm entitled" society). But once you head down this direction, you better make sure your own ass is spotless.

That sounds kind of fascist don't you think? Other than that i'm not going to argue politics on this kind of thing.

[PragmaticIdealist]

Originally Posted by pesto

There's lots of cheap neighborhoods in LA and surrounding areas, mostly black and Hispanic. But the IE people chose not to live there and instead foul the air with their cars and SUV's. Maybe they should be sued for environmental damaage as well as for acting out their racial hatred. Sounds like a hate crime to me.

Historically, the law has not protected adult individuals of normal intelligence from the results of their own decisions (although I admit that this has been waning with the advent of the "I'm entitled" society). But once you head down this direction, you better make sure your own ass is spotless.

I want oil everywhere to be priced according to all the negative externalities. Consumers will make the best choices if prices reflect the actual costs of one alternative over another.

Bear in mind that I also believe gas prices in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties need to be raised. But, in the case of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the externalities are disproportionately affecting the neighboring areas. And, that fact isn't good for anyone because the entire SCAG region is going to be hurt over the next 25 years if we can't sustain our historic levels of job growth. We need to be thinking regionally, and the Inland Empire is the key to fixing all of southern California.

[germench]

Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist

It's a chicken-and-egg question.

Did the coastal regions suck the jobs from the Inland Empire first and, thereby, force I.E. residents to commute long distances, or did the smog from all the commuting cause the jobs to be concentrated on the coast because that is where the high-end talent prefers to live?

The coastal regions sucked actual jobs or hypothetical job growth from the IE? What were these jobs? What were we beyond a huge citrus industry? Did the citrus industry move westward? Or did IE landowners, after discovery how much money they could make, sell to developers that built comparatively affordable housing, which resulted in a massive demand, thereby making a long distance commute to existing jobs in LAC and OC feasible/tolerable?

The older generation was more obsessed, if you will, with being homeowners as an expected rite of passage. The IE allowed many to head east in order to do so. As such, the population boom in the IE is fairly recent, and in large fashion a reaction to the business districts in LAC and OC. Sure, a number of us were born and raised here, and possibly our parents were too, but what would that IE look like without those that traveled inland to find affordable housing?

I don’t think people live on the coast to simply escape smog. I think they live on the coast because they want to live on the coast, just like some people live in the mountains because they want to live in the mountains and others live in the desert because they want to live in the desert. Many people came to California for the weather; the weather is part of our lifestyle, and fortunately the region offers residents fairly diverse options. IE weather is nice, but I’d say most people would agree that the closer to the ocean, the better the weather. (There is enough demand to live on the coast as to skyrocket the real estate, making coastal living one’s status marker.) I think to acknowledge they’re out of the smog is an afterthought to the many other considerations involved.

Did the central business district begin to dissemble from the 1950s onward and smaller business districts begin to follow professionals into suburbia? Yes. I think phenomenon is how jobs from office space, commercial retail, etc. arrived at the coast where, as you stated, the high-end talent prefers to live. This break up and relocation of the central business district is largely how jobs popped up all over the place with little rhyme or reason other than user-convenience. The fall of the central business district, better known as downtown, is a whole other topic.

My point is that I don’t think IE ever had a centralized business district or enough of any industry beyond citrus from which the coastal regions could steal actual jobs from us. The coastal counties moved into the service-driven white-collar industries while the IE was selling oranges by the freeway, leaving us to come to their neck of the woods for higher paying professional jobs, and in turn, the medium to medium-high paid workers to become homeowners by heading east.

There’s been such a plethora of contributing factors to how we got to where we are. It’s much too difficult to simplify it. As overused as the expression: it is what it is. Bottom line is we need to start in the present and aggressively mold our future from the lessons of the past. I don’t think the IE should be going after the coastal counties for money we think they owe us for air quality issues to which we all have collectively contributed.

[germench]

Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist

I want oil everywhere to be priced according to all the negative externalities. Consumers will make the best choices if prices reflect the actual costs of one alternative over another.

Bear in mind that I also believe gas prices in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties need to be raised. But, in the case of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the externalities are disproportionately affecting the neighboring areas. And, that fact isn't good for anyone because the entire SCAG region is going to be hurt over the next 25 years if we can't sustain our historic levels of job growth. We need to be thinking regionally, and the Inland Empire is the key to fixing all of southern California.

Firstly, I'm surprised you're even bothering with that guy's drivel. Secondly, I do see your point, and it is a good one, but as it relates to environmental justice is where I hesitate.

[PragmaticIdealist]

I think you may be considering the Inland Empire with a more recent frame of reference.

It's important to remember that Los Angeles was a backwater only a few decades ago. And, the parity of San Bernardino with Los Angeles and San Diego is quite apparent in historic photographs and other accounts. Three transcontinental rail lines converged in the inland city and created one of the most important rail hubs in the American West. The largest electric railway in the world had one of its two nexuses there. San Bernardino was the center point of the Kite-Shaped Track that provided intraregional train travel. And, the economy was well-diversified with several industries typical of the time.

While many of the early 20th Century tall buildings have since been destroyed, San Bernardino in its heyday impressed as a full-fledged Western metropolis.

Wealthy Easterners, when they moved to southern California and when they vacationed here, didn't congregate on the coast. They lived in the Inland Empire. Riverside and Redlands were, per capita, the most affluent cities in the entire country. So, at a certain point, the region ceased having superior desirability, and the automobile and the freeway are among the prime culprits. While they are responsible for a whole host of problems, air pollution is among the most significant. It's also one of the main reasons the struggling areas of L.A. and Orange Counties are concentrated near the ports and in the valleys.

The growth of Ontario International Airport in recent years is largely responsible for the fact that the West side of the Inland Empire is now more job-rich than even Orange County. But, we're still functioning as one giant suburb, and the current problems at the airport aren't very encouraging. While L.A. World Airports should divest itself of ONT, I doubt that the City of Los Angeles will authorize selling the facility. That scenario leaves SBD to regionalize southern California's air-travel demand and to help the Inland Empire divorce itself from the coast.

[PragmaticIdealist]

I suppose I used the wrong imagery. Southern California grew over the last century, and, when the region did, Los Angeles, through the impacts of the freeway system, attracted the vast majority of the white-collar jobs, whereas, if the trains and trolleys had remained dominant, San Bernardino and the larger Inland Empire would have retained their vitality.

[PragmaticIdealist]

This is the updated chart of transit-oriented development opportunities at 53 existing and planned train and tram stations in Greater San Bernardino.

image hosted on flickr


The major addition is a new line on Riverside Avenue, which runs between Riverside and Rialto.

[germench]

Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist

I suppose I used the wrong imagery. Southern California grew over the last century, and, when the region did, Los Angeles, through the impacts of the freeway system, attracted the vast majority of the white-collar jobs, whereas, if the trains and trolleys had remained dominant, San Bernardino and the larger Inland Empire would have retained their vitality.

Sounds like I need to hit some local history books.

[Chewsif]

Partners announced for March medical complex

10:24 AM PDT on Wednesday, June 2, 2010

By LORA HINES
The Press-Enterprise

Officials at St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino, along with its parent company, Catholic Healthcare West, today announced that it has agreed to partner with Riverside Medical Clinic to offer services at a proposed large-scale medical complex to be built at March Air Reserve Base.

It's unclear whether the corporation will build a hospital at the complex, which is to include at least one hospital, medical offices, a nursing home, assisted living residences and stores.

Story continues below

Special to The Press-Enterprise
An artist rendering of the proposed March Life Care medical complex.


The medical complex developer, March Healthcare Development, is to hold a ceremony at noon in front of the old hospital at the former Air Force base.

Donald Ecker, the development company's managing member and project leader, wants to get the complex's first patient treated by the end of 2011. The company will pay the project manager a projected $2.2 million by 2020.

March LifeCare would cover more than 3.5 million square feet of the base's northwest corner. The first of three phases of development includes a medical office building and senior residences to be constructed south of Meyer Drive.

March Healthcare Development still needs approval by the March Joint Powers Commission of a master plot plan, which will map exact locations for the numerous facilities that March LifeCare will include. The commission is made up of elected officials from Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris and Riverside County. It oversees redevelopment of the base.

[Chewsif]

Some concept photos from the March LifeCare site...









There's also a project video at this link:
http://www.marchhealthcare.com/video.php