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12/22/2022
Union Pacific Railroad representatives joined state and local officials at a grand opening ceremony Dec. 15 to mark the completion of the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center in Millersburg, Oregon.
The $35.5 million, 64-acre intermodal facility is located where where a UP mainline, Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR) line and Interstate 5 converge. Owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc., PNWR interchanges with UP and BNSF Railway Co.
The facility is designed to serve as a centralized reload center for the valley's natural resource-based economy, and handle both domestic and international containers for inbound and outbound unit trains. It features 100 truck parking spaces and a 60,000-square-foot storage warehouse and docks to support cargo reloading and transloading.
The center will give area farmers another option for transporting their crops to markets to help reduce shipping costs, while also boosting the local economy, state officials said in a press release. Trucks will bring cargo to the facility in international containers for transfers to rail cars, then the cargo will head north to marine terminals in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, to bypass busy Interstate 5.
"Moving valley products by rail will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and prevent further congestion on Oregon and Washington highways," said Aaron Hunt, UP's senior director of public affairs. "Freight railroads account for roughly 40% of U.S. long-distance freight volume … yet they account for just 0.5% of total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions."