Port of Benton to use federal RAISE grant to fund rail projects

The Port of Benton in Richland, Washington, will receive a $9.56 million grant under the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.

The grant will fund repairs and improvements to the port’s southern connection industrial rail line from Columbia Center Boulevard in Kennewick to Horn Rapids Road in Richland, port officials said yesterday in a press release. 

The following projects are planned:
• replacing 12,000 ties along the rail line;
• replacing the entire 1 mile of wye track, including ties and ballast; and
• upgrading 3 miles of track along elevated curves to heavier-duty track to accommodate longer unit trains.

Both Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway Co. use the port’s rail line to move goods in and out of the region. Every year, 1.3 million tons of freight travel along the port's 16-mile southern connection rail line.

"With these much-needed improvements, the track can return to Class II conditions, allowing train speeds to return to 25 mph," said Diahann Howard, port executive. "The increased speeds will reduce the time a unit train blocks an intersection from as much as 18 minutes to as little as four minutes. This reduction will shorten vehicle travel times and lessen the impact to fire and emergency vehicles, greatly improving public safety.”

Port of Benton and the city of Richland recently finalized the first phase of an industrial land transfer in north Richland. The land exchange will allow the port to use the property for an expanded intermodal facility adjacent to its existing industrial property and rail assets, port officials said.