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3/28/2023
The Washington State House has included $14.5 million for the Connell Rail Interchange project in the legislative body's proposed 2023-25 transportation budget.
The $14.5 million includes $10 million in funding already appropriated by the Legislature in 2015, plus an additional $5 million in the 2023-25 biennium for an actual total of $14.5 million that would be available, according to a press release issued by the Connell Rail Interchange Coalition.
The dollar figure also includes $500,000 expended for design and engineering since 2015, coalition officials said. If approved by the Washington State Legislature, the $14.5 million would be enough to complete the project, they added.
The $28.7 million project would relocate, reconfigure and improve a critical rail interchange in rural Connell, where the Columbia Basin Railroad joins BNSF Railway Co.'s mainline.
Built nearly 100 years ago, the configuration of the interchange requires upgrades approved to accommodate current and future growth in rail cargo flowing through Connell. Track and infrastructure design for the project has been completed.
In his proposed 2023-25 budget, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee included nearly $15 million for the project.