Washington State provides funding for rail infrastructure projects

Three key rail infrastructure and economic development projects in the Columbia Basin—the Port of Moses Lake’s Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, the Port of Warden’s Rail Infrastructure Expansion Project and the Connell Rail Interchange Improvement Project—have all received funding in the 2015-17 Transportation Revenue Package that was recently passed/approved by the Washington State Legislature.

The Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, which received $20.9 million in funding, is a critical economic development, job creation and freight mobility project in Washington State that will enhance and improve rail access to vital industries in the northern Columbia Basin area near Moses Lake, Wash. In particular, the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project will provide expanded freight rail service to the Moses Lake area, from the Wheeler Road Corridor across town to the Port of Moses Lake’s Grant County International Airport Industrial Area. In addition, the project is integral to preserving existing manufacturing jobs and related investment in central Washington, while helping to bring new business opportunities, job creation and economic development to the region, the state says.

The Port of Warden Rail Infrastructure Expansion Project, which received $2 million in funding, will increase rail capacity and enhance rail service within the Port of Warden by constructing approximately one mile of new rail storage siding track in the Port of Warden along the Columbia Basin Rail Line, which runs between Connell and Moses Lake. In the past few years, a great deal of economic development has occurred at the Port of Warden, including the opening of a new commercial-scale canola seed crushing production facility, additional fresh produce packing and frozen and dehydrated food processing, and the associated warehousing for these products. As a result of the growth and expansion of these industries in the Port of Warden, the rail infrastructure in Warden is near capacity and more rail storage track is needed to allow for the efficient loading and unloading of rail cars and movement of trains on the Columbia Basin Rail Line to and from Warden, the state says.

The Connell Rail Interchange Improvement Project, which received $10 million in funding, is a key rail interchange in Eastern Washington where the Columbia Basin Railroad line intersects with BNSF Railway’s Lakeside Subdivision line, which runs between Spokane and Pasco, Wash. The Columbia Basin Railroad Line goes through the heart of the Columbia Basin in eastern Washington and serves Moses Lake, Wheeler, Schrag, Warden, Bruce, Othello and Connell in Grant, Adams and Franklin Counties. The Connell Rail Interchange was built nearly 100 years ago and the configuration of the Interchange is outdated and inefficient, the state says. Consequently, the funding will help to upgrade and improve the Connell Rail Interchange to accommodate the tremendous growth in rail cargo that is flowing to and through Connell.

Over the past several years, a significant amount of economic development has been occurring in communities on the Columbia Basin Railroad Line, especially in Grant and Adams Counties. As a result, the Columbia Basin Railroad line has become one of the busiest short lines in Washington State, hauling over 10,000 carloads annually of various agricultural, industrial commodities and other cargo for 60 active rail shippers in the Columbia Basin, which employ nearly 7,000 people in Grant and Adams Counties.