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The Washington state legislature recently passed its 2009-11 transportation budget, which includes $2 million for a Columbia Basin Railroad track rehabilitation project.

The proceeds will enable the short line to begin constructing one track segment and rehabilitating another. Under the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, the railroad plans to build a rail segment (known as Segment 2) from the south side of the Port of Moses Lake's Grant County International Airport to an industrial area on the east and north sides of the airport. The project also calls for upgrading an existing track segment (known as Segment 3).

The “critical economic development and freight mobility project” will enhance and improve rail access to industries in the Moses Lake, Wash., area, Columbia Basin Railroad officials said in a prepared statement.

The short line has benefited from “unprecedented teamwork and cooperation” between the railroad, city of Moses Lake, port and Grant County Economic Development Corp., said Columbia Basin Railroad President Brig Temple.