Alameda Corridor Completes Bond Sale, Centerpiece of Rail Expressway Funding
FEBRUARY 2, 1999
LOS ANGELES COUNTY – The public agency building the Alameda Corridor rail cargo expressway has completed the sale of approximately $1.2 billion in bonds, the centerpiece of the project’s funding package.
About $643 million in taxable bonds were sold the week of Jan. 25, and another $520 million in tax-exempt bonds were sold the week of Jan. 18. Interest rates on the bonds vary depending on the maturity dates, which fall between 2003 and 2037. For the taxable bonds, the interest rate averages just under 7 percent; for the tax-exempt bonds, the average interest rate is 5.25 percent.
Proceeds from the sales are scheduled to be delivered to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) on Feb. 9.
“With the completion of these successful transactions, ACTA will have all the funding necessary to build the project,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, Jr., chairman of the ACTA Governing Board. “The market’s broad acceptance of ACTA’s bonds and the low interest rates confirm our belief that this is a critical project with first-rate financial and construction plans.”
ACTA is a joint-powers authority between the cities and ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The Alameda Corridor is a 20-mile railroad freight expressway linking the ports to the transcontinental rail yards just east of downtown Los Angeles. When completed in early-2002, the project will speed the shipment of cargo and improve the flow of rail and vehicle traffic by consolidating rail lines and eliminating more than 200 street-level railroad crossings.
Bond debt will be retired with revenues from fees paid by railroads for use of the corridor.
Bonds are the centerpiece of the projectís $2.4 billion funding package. Funding sources include:
$1.165 billion in bond proceeds.
$400 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
$394 million in grants from the ports.
$347 million administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
$154 million in other state and federal sources and interest income.