OnTrac Riding With Big Project

A financially strapped railroad project in Placentia will not be specifically funded in a pending federal transportation bill.

The city’s OnTrac project was instead combined by the local congressional delegation with the much-larger Alameda Corridor East project, a multibillion-dollar safety effort to lower rail crossings below street level across Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The intent is to reduce collisions by separating trains and traffic.

The Alameda Corridor East project wasn’t included in the Transportation Equity Act, which passed the House on Thursday and is headed for a Senate vote.

However, it will be considered among “projects of regional and national significance” to receive money after the Senate votes and members of both houses meet to reconcile their versions of the bill, said Kevin McKee, a spokesman for Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Diamond Bar).

“Because OnTrac has been absorbed [in the larger project], it has a lot better chance of full funding,” McKee said.

This is the second year that Placentia has pinned its hopes on federal funds. Last March, Miller earmarked $14 million to help OnTrac pay its immediate bills, only to watch the legislation die when House and Senate members couldn’t agree on how much to budget for transportation needs.

Placentia again has asked the federal government to pay for half of the $450-million project, with the remainder to be sought later. The project would construct new crossings at 11 streets and lower tracks into a concrete trench through the city, which is bisected by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway line.

Officials say the work is necessary for one of the nation’s busiest rail freight corridors, used by about 70 trains a day. That number is expected to increase to 135 by 2020.

Placentia officials have continued to blame OnTrac’s financial troubles for the failure to secure enough state and federal funds. For the last two years, the city has struggled to keep OnTrac alive during a budget crunch that compelled officials to sell surplus land, close City Hall every other Friday and lay off staff.

The city has spent about $17 million of its money so far on the project and $18 million more in grant funds.

In a scramble for money, the Placentia City Council voted in August to mortgage two city parks as collateral for borrowing $6.9 million to pay OnTrac debts.

Last month, the council took control of the project from the joint powers authority that had run it for four years.