State transpo budget includes $14.5M for Connell rail project
Workers with the Columbia Basin Railroad repair train tracks near the intersection of Wheeler Road and Road N Northeast Tuesday morning.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
CONNELL — The Columbia Basin Railroad is slated to receive $14.5 million in state funding to help pay for the rebuilding of the railroad’s Connell interchange, according to a press release from Connell Rail Interchange Coalition, which has been lobbying for funding to pay for the project.
According to the press release, the $14.5 million includes $10 million already appropriated to the project in 2015 as well as an additional $5 million in Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed 2023-25 biennial transportation budget. The appropriated funds, which also include $500,000 spent on the engineering and design of the project, will pay to complete the interchange.
The funds are also included in the Washington House of Representatives version of the 2023-25 transportation budget, the press release said.
The Connell Rail Interchange connects the Columbia Basin Railroad to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad mainline. The CBRR serves Connell, Warden, Othello, Royal City and Moses Lake, and the Port of Moses Lake is currently engaged in a project to extend rail service parallel to Wheeler Road, bypassing the rail line running through downtown Moses Lake and allowing shippers direct access to the port.
The press release said because of the demand for freight shipping in the Columbia Basin, the CBRR has become one of the busier short-line railroads in Washington state. The Connell interchange was built nearly a century ago and was never designed to handle current freight traffic. According to an outline of the project available from the city of Connell, the project will improve efficiency and capacity in Connell and allow for freight operations that don’t block the BNSF line.
The project will also allow for the arrival and departure of unit trains – trains with a typical length of 7,400 feet – according to the outline.
The 2023-25 transportation budget still needs to be approved by the state legislature and signed into law before the funds are formally available for the project.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.