Story Photos
 Two rail lines cross the Port of Kalama. A third 3-mile rail between the port's two grain terminals would eliminate backups as trains stop and unload, port officials say. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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Kalama's third rail plan may be back on track
Monday, April 28, 2008 12:01 AM PDT
By Leila Summers
Printable version
E-mail this articleKALAMA — With grain exports continuing to rise, Port of Kalama officials say a $50 million third rail line is desperately needed to ease train congestion between the port's two grain terminals.
The 3 miles of extra track would allow trains to bypass Kalama if they don't need to stop there, reducing traffic on existing tracks. Today, trains must slow down and often stop for hours when freight moves in and out of the port, causing a bottleneck in the rail system at Kalama, said port planning director Mark Wilson.
When the third rail concept originally developed, it was intended to become an 18-mile express lane from Woodland to Kelso.
But a lack of federal funding for what turned out to be an astronomical $465 million project quickly pushed it to the back burner at the state level. The cost proved too high, which prompted port commissioners, along with Washington State Department of Transportation and the railroads, to examine less costly alternatives.
A 3-mile rail line would connect to the main line just outside Kalama's north and south grain terminals.
"The railroad says it's very doable, and we've got some money sitting aside," port commissioner Fred Swanstrom said Friday. "Hopefully we can put the two together."
The Port of Kalama is the third largest grain exporter in the state, behind Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma. Most of its grain arrives by rail from the Midwest and is shipped from the Columbia River to growing Asian markets. Congested rails can affect ship commerce - it costs thousands of dollars to dock a ship each day it waits for late freight, Swanstrom said.
Grain is proving a valuable commodity in the world market, Wilson said. With the fall of the value of the American dollar against foreign currency, farmers currently "get more dollars for their grain," he said. Also boosting the value of U.S. grain, Wilson said, is failure of competing crops in South America and Australia and its newfound uses for fuel.
So far, the port's rail project has received $339,000 in state funding for environmental studies and operational analysis of the new project. Both studies are due by June 2009, said port spokeswoman Mindi Linquist.
Permitting and final engineering could start as early as 2011, and construction is slated to occur between 2013 and 2017.
Port officials, however, worry the state will push the project back if the state budget becomes too tight. If anything, the port wants to push forward state allocations to start the project sooner, Linquist said.
"If you don't push those issues all the time it gets swept aside," Wilson added.
Expanding rail capacity is vital for attracting new businesses to the area, Wilson said.
"It's an economic development issue," Swanstrom said. "If we can't take care of businesses that want to come into our area, which creates jobs, we're thwarted."
It's also important for the port to remain competitive with international trading markets, Wilson said.
"Somebody's getting that business. It would be nice if that's us," Wilson said.
Citizen wrote on Apr 28, 2008 10:23 AM:
No more Kalama. "
Correction Chimp wrote on Apr 28, 2008 10:52 AM:
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