Construction begins on Colton rail crossing

COLTON -- Work began Tuesday on a long-planned project to lift one set of train tracks above another and prevent many of the back-ups, loud whistles and emissions that have plagued the city for years.

In fact, the Colton Crossing project was 129 years in the making, said Mayor Sarah Zamora.

In 1893, lawman Virgil Earp and Gov. Robert Waterman - along with many citizens with whatever weapons they could find - had a tense stand-off at the site when Earp tried to block construction of the north-south tracks that would become the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, ending the Southern California monopoly by the company that would become Union Pacific.

Since then, whenever a train has come through Colton - something that happens more than 110 times a day, according to the city - it's had to blow a whistle, slow and stop if another train was coming on the other set of tracks.

"Then they set aside their picks, shovels, shotguns and pistols and came together for a ... monumental accomplishment," Zamora said.

The bridge will allow trains to come through without blowing their whistles or waiting, meaning the city will become quieter, less polluted and less prone to the train-caused traffic backups, said a slate of dignitaries who hailed the project as a successful partnership between many government agencies as well as the two railroads.

And it's significant nationally, said Federal Highway Administration head Victor Mendez.

"It's going to be good locally, but when you look nationally - what it's going to mean in terms of freight to the economy nationally - that's why I want to say this is a big thing," Mendez said.

The city plans to spend $5.6 million on the $202 million project, which county transportation officials say is expected to create 767 construction jobs.

Officials say the project is expected to finish by early 2014.

Reach Ryan via email, call him at 909-483-3916.