Yesterday, state and county officials broke ground on a much-needed grade separation that will carry Rosecrans Avenue over busy rail tracks in the southeast L.A. County city of Santa Fe Springs. Construction is already underway on the $156 million Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project, which will benefit both rail passengers and drivers; both will be safer and will experience greater reliability in traveling through the area. The project is anticipated to be completed in 2025.

Last December the Metro board approved the project’s construction contract.

The largest source of project funding is the California’s High-Speed Rail Authority Prop 1A, as planned future high-speed rail into Anaheim will run at the site. See earlier SBLA coverage for a full breakdown of project funding.

At yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony (broadcast on Facebook), both County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins recalled a tragic 2019 Metrolink train crash at the site. Hahn praised the project for fixing a “traffic nightmare” while providing “safer and more reliable connections” for Amtrak and Metrolink riders.

When Streetsblog last visited the site in April, early construction work was already underway. In addition to demolition of several adjacent industrial buildings and erection of construction fencing, new metal power transmission poles had already been installed.

Find additional coverage of the Rosecrans/Marquardt groundbreaking at Metro’s The Source and the Whittier Daily News.