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11/8/2022
Nearly 40 letters recently were sent to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee expressing support for the state’s proposed budget allocation of $14.5 million to the Connell Rail Interchange Project.
The 100-year-old interchange has outgrown its now outdated and inefficient configuration due to a significant bump in economic development and growth on the Columbia Basin Railroad line. The railroad has become one of the busiest short lines in the state, hauling thousands of loads of agricultural and industrial commodities and other cargo for 60 shippers in the area, officials from the Connell Rail Interchange Coalition said in a press release.
The project is designed to modernize the interchange so it can accommodate current and future freight traffic growth.
The Washington State Department of Transportation’s budget submission of $15 million for the 2023-25 biennium includes $10 million in funds already allocated to the project in 2015, with an additional $4.5 million to be added in the new state budget. About $500,000 in funds has already been expended for design and engineering over the past seven years, coalition officials said.
The letters of support were sent by officials from counties, ports, cities, economic development councils, private businesses, railroads and other entities across the state.