Port of Warden to receive $2.5M to improve land

WARDEN — The Port of Warden will receive around $2.5 million in federal highway funding to help improve access to the port’s industrial land on the southwest side of the city, according to a port press release.

Port Executive Director Pat Millard said at this point the port is looking to improve access to around 158 acres of port property south of the port-owned municipal airport, the Columbia Basin Railroad switching yard, Viterra’s canola processing plant and CHS Sun Basin Growers. The Port of Warden press release said the port is looking at building a bypass road.

Millard said the road will be built, but port officials need to work out with the city of Warden whether the road will go on city property or port property.

“We are looking at a couple of different options to find the best and most cost-effective route for the road,” Millard said.

The road is needed, according to the press release, to accommodate the significant industrial growth in and around Warden, including Viterra’s canola processing plant, a rebuilt Washington Potato Company dehydrating plant and a new fertilizer distribution center.

Millard said the port is also working on improving rail access to around 155 acres, something potential industrial have said they are interested in. The 155 acres – in five parcels – are mostly undeveloped, and port officials have noted in the past that extending road access to that land is essential to making it available for future development.

The federal funds are included in the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, passed by Congress in late December 2022.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.