$14.5MM OKd for Connell Rail Interchange Project

(Columbia Basin Railroad Photograph Courtesy of the Connell Interchange Coalition.)

The Washington State Legislature has signed off on the 2023-25 Transportation Budget, which allocates $14.5 million to complete upgrades to the nearly 100-year-old Connell Rail Interchange located in the eastern part of the state.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Dec. 16 that the funding would be included in the budget, following nearly 40 letters sent from various counties, ports, cities, railroads, economic development corporations, companies and other entities to the governor and the legislature in support of the infrastructure project. House lawmakers allotted the funds in the proposed budget late last month.

The Connell Rail Interchange is a key interchange located where the Columbia Basin rail line intersects with BNSF’s Lakeside Subdivision line, which runs between Spokane and Pasco, Wash., the Connell Rail Interchange Coalition reported April 24. Track infrastructure design work has already been completed for the project, which is slated to accommodate current and future rail traffic growth.

According to the Coalition, the approved $14.5 million includes approximately $10 million appropriated by the Legislature in 2015, plus some $5 million in the 2023-25 biennium for an actual total of $14.5 million, reflecting the approximately $500,000 in funds that have already been expended for design and engineering since 2015.  

“Over the past several years, a significant amount of economic development and growth has been occurring in communities on the Columbia Basin rail line, especially in Grant and Adams counties,” the Coalition said. “Consequently, the Columbia Basin rail line has become one of the busiest short lines in Washington State, hauling thousands of loads of various agricultural, industrial commodities and other cargo annually for 60 active rail shippers in the Columbia Basin, which employ nearly 7,000 people in rapidly growing Grant and Adams counties.”