Two innovative mass transit projects being built at the same time could change the way people get around by connecting the High Desert to Las Vegas, the Inland Valley, Los Angeles and Ontario International Airport.
Both a private company’s high-speed rail project planned from Victor Valley to Las Vegas, with a spur along the Cajon Pass to Rancho Cucamonga, and a separate tunnel transport system to Ontario airport, are estimated to be completed by 2024 or early 2025, according to information from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority Board of Directors’ meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The SBCTA is seeking qualified developers to build a 4-mile tunnel that would transport passengers and their luggage in an underground tube using electric vehicles going up to 127 mph. A ride from Rancho Cucamonga in a tunnel under Milliken Avenue will take five minutes, according to SBCTA.
XpressWest, a Brightline Co. company, has received approval from the state to build a 170-mile rail line from Victorville to Las Vegas. The $5 billion project will be privately financed. To attract commuter passengers, it will also build a 50-mile spur along the 15 Freeway, with a station in Hesperia, connecting to the San Bernardino Metrolink train line.
At the center of both projects is Rancho Cucamonga and its existing Metrolink station, where the XPressWest high-speed rail project’s spur would connect and where the 4-mile “Ontario Airport Loop” tunnel terminal would be located.
“If it all comes together, Rancho Cucamonga will be a hub like no other in the nation,” Mayor Dennis Michael said Thursday, Sept. 3. The city would become a focal point for four different car-less travel options: the high-speed rail to Victorville and on to Las Vegas; enhanced Metrolink service to San Bernardino and Los Angeles; a new bus rapid transit system also in the works and a tunnel transport to and from passenger terminals at Ontario airport.
“A person could take the high-speed rail (from Victorville) and then jump on Metrolink to whatever their destination, or get on the underground loop to the airport,” Michael added.
These projects are moving ahead quickly but still have a long way to go. The SBCTA board Wednesday took several steps toward signing with a developer to build the Ontario Loop:
• A Memorandum of Understanding was approved with the Ontario International Airport Authority. OIAA’s board signed off on the MOU on Aug. 27. The airport will choose between two above-ground stations, most likely at Terminals 2 and 4, or one underground station. It will also seek approval from the Federal Aviation Authority and the airlines.
• Approved requests for qualified developers, which will be received by November. The contract would be awarded by August 2021.
• Canceled a $3 million study pursuing rail alternatives to ONT.
Funding remains an issue. SBCTA estimates the project will cost $65 million. The board allocated $10.3 million toward paying for a construction contract, bringing the total funding allocated to the Ontario Loop to $17.1 million. No more SBCTA on-hand capital funds are available through 2024, said Carrie Schindler, SBCTA director of transit and rail.
The rest of the funding could come from state or federal grants or money left over from other SBCTA projects.
Money set aside for other capital projects will not be used, SBCTA reported. That includes about $97 million in reserve for a “L” Line, formerly the Gold Line, light-rail train and station in Montclair.
“There is no money being moved from the Gold Line project,” said Montclair Mayor John Dutrey, an SBCTA board member.
The tunneling project began with an unsolicited proposal from Elon Musk’s The Boring Co., which proposed taking 12 people and bags per vehicle or about 1,200 people per day.
During a presentation by XpressWest on the Cajon Pass spur of the Vegas high-speed rail, the company outlined plans for a multi-level station in Rancho Cucamonga with a 30-foot high elevated high-speed rail track.
The spur will be 30% designed by November, the company reported. Ground breaking is scheduled for 2021, with completion of the spur by 2024.
Once up and running, the rail project would attract 20% of the Los Angeles-to-Vegas market or about 10 million one-way trips a year, according to XpressWest.