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Dozens of legislators, communities and businesses have recently contacted the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) expressing support for a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad project, according to WSDOT.

The department is applying for a TIGER grant — which is funded by $1.5 billion appropriated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — and the project meets eligibility requirements, WSDOT said.

Recently, the Port of Moses Lake received $2 million in state funding for the project, which is designed to improve rail access in the northern Columbia Basin area near Moses Lake, Wash., via the Columbia Basin Railroad.

The short line plans to establish an 11.5-mile line by building one track segment and rehabilitating another. Columbia Basin Railroad would construct the segment from the south side of the port’s Grant County International Airport to an industrial area on the east and north sides of the airport.