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Local Community March Joint Powers Authority

The March Joint Powers Authority’s (March JPA) Planning Area is a Special District encompassing more than 3,300 acres within an unincorporated area of Riverside County. The March JPA’s fully entitled Meridian Business Park (1,290 acres) is centrally located withinWestern Riverside County. Meridian is nestled between the County’s largest cities of Riverside and Moreno Valley and within 60 miles of the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino. Meridian offers an incomparable strategic location for industries in the fields of research and development, advancedmanufacturing, biotech, engineering, healthcare, aerospace and defense. March JPA stands to createmore than 30,000 jobs in the region, yielding multi-billion dollar contributions to the Southern California economy. The quality of life around the March JPA’s Meridian Business Park is outstanding, as is the access tomajor markets – national and international. As a regional job center, with direct access to the largest airport facility in the County (March Inland Port Airport), and corporate neighbors, March JPA is centrally located within growing

logistics and technology hubs for Southern California.

southwestern and easternmarkets on the BNSF rail system. UP LA Sub connects to the Sunset Corridor at Colton in the Los Angeles basin. UP El Paso Line is part of the UP Sunset Corridor which extends to El Paso. This route is designated as the primary intermodal line between the Los Angeles basin and easternmarkets. The UP LA Sub segment of themainline connects with the UP El Paso Line via the BNSF Transcon Line between west Riverside and Colton. The UP El Paso Line exits south through Imperial County towards Yuma, Arizona, and the eastern side of the Salton Sea. The BNSF Transcon has a route exiting to the north into San Bernardino County. In 2003, 68million tons of rail freight passed through Riverside County with less than five percent originating or ending locally. Currently 85 freight trains per day pass through Riverside County. Source: http://media.metro.net/ projects_studies/ mcgmap/ images/ 04.3_Vol1_Riverside_County_ AP_043008.pdf

March JPA’s Meridian Business Park is home to the Moreno Valley/March Field Metrolink Station. The station is a central part of the active Metrolink 91/Perris Valley Line service that provides connections to South Perris Station and Los Angeles Union Station. The station also accommodates regional and local bus services that are regularly utilized by residents in the two largest cities in Riverside County – Riverside and Moreno Valley. Rail service within Meridian not only accommodates Metrolink, but provides rail service to BNSF freight trains. The rail and transportation systemwithin and around March JPAmakes it a critical component of the Multi-County Goods Movement Action Plan for Riverside County. Riverside County has three rail mainlines owned by BNSF and UP as shown in the following figure. These include the BNSF Transcon, the UP Los Angeles Subdivision (UP LA Sub), and the UP El Paso Line. The BNSF Transcon is the artery linking the Los Angeles basin to all midwestern,

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