BNSF identifies three new sites for industrial development

BNSF Railway Co. has awarded its "Certified Site" designation to three properties, the Class I announced yesterday.

The sites — which are located in North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma — feature hundreds of acres that are ready for new industrial facility development.

BNSF has scouted the sites and evaluated their "shovel-readiness." Businesses looking to locate to any of the three properties could save six to nine months of construction time as a result of the railroad's analysis, BNSF officials said in a press release.

The goal of the Certified Site program is to provide an inventory of rail-served sites that are available for immediate development. The program addresses the increasing demand for customer site locations by developing various types of facilities across BNSF's network, according to the railroad.

The three newly designated Certified Sites are:
• the Industrial Park of Minot, North Dakota, which has direct access to a BNSF rail line and includes 386 rail-served acres for development. A total of 80 acres on the site have been graded and are ready for immediate construction.
• The Avard Regional Industrial Rail Park in Avard, Oklahoma, which features access to a 6,000-foot rail siding and includes 390 acres for development.
• Foundation Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which includes more than 425 acres for development.

BNSF rolled out the Certified Site program in March 2016. Earlier this year, the railroad identified six rail-served sites for development.