Alameda Corridor Panel to Oversee Jobs Creation

State Assemblyman Carl Washington announced Tuesday the formation of a community task force to ensure that the $2.4-billion Alameda Corridor project fulfills its promise to hire and train people who live in the economically depressed cities along the corridor’s route.

The number of jobs created by the new rail link to the county’s ports and who gets hired to fill them have been major concerns for many residents and leaders from Wilmington to central Los Angeles.

“We need to be proactive and make sure our community gets a place at the table,” said Washington, a Compton Democrat whose district is in the heart of the project and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the county. “I want to make sure fairness is done.”

The corridor will extend 20 miles along Alameda Street from the county’s ports to transcontinental rail hubs near downtown Los Angeles. Last week, ground was broken for the largest and most crucial phase of the project, a $712-million concrete trench that will contain two railroad tracks.

Along the corridor’s path are some of the most economically depressed urban areas in the county, including Carson, Compton, Lynwood, Huntington Park, South Gate and parts of South Los Angeles.

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority estimates that 8,700 to 9,250 jobs will be created during the seven-year life of the project, or 1,200 to 1,300 positions a year. Agency officials have promised that people from cities along the corridor’s route will get 30% of all work hours.

In addition, the agency is establishing a $5-million program to provide job training for 1,000 unemployed people, some of whom will be hired for the project.

Among those participating in the task force are the Los Angeles Housing Authority, the Alameda Corridor Jobs Coalition, Parents of Watts, Compton City Council member Marcine Shaw, and the Watts-Century Latino Organization.