The Port of Bellingham will receive nearly $18 million in federal dollars to fully fund a project connecting a railway spur from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainline to the shipping terminal site.
The Wednesday, June 26 announcement by Washington’s Congressional delegation is part of a larger package of RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant funds totaling nearly $90 million to be used for transportation projects across the state. Eight projects, including the port’s, were selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, said the port served as a link in the state’s supply chain and that the terminal renovation project would benefit communities across the state.
“This is a commonsense project in so many ways — from reducing road congestion and emissions to increasing how much cargo the port can handle any given day — and it’s going to benefit not just the port, but the entire regional economy,” Murray said.
The ultimate goal of re-establishing the railway line to the shipping port is to reinstate on-dock and near-dock rail connections and provide direct rail service in and out of the port. Additionally, the funding will allow the port to purchase a crane pad to support the weight of a harbor crane, acquired in 2021 for the bargain cost of $150,000 and bollards to ensure safe loading and unloading of the barges.
The benefit of extending the rail line from the port to BNSF’s main rail is that it gives the port another option to move cargo from a vessel and off to its final destination, explained Rob Fix, the Port of Bellingham executive director.
Fix said Wednesday the rail connection project will result in more jobs during the construction and after the completion of the project.
“Those grants come with a lot of reporting requirements and other deliverables that will need to be met with the federal government,” he said. “So the port will have to increase its employment to meet those obligations and we’ll have to increase our employment just to get the project done.”
He did not have an estimation of how long the project would take but said the funding has helped accelerate the ultimate timeline of the rail project.
“The other option would be the port would have to come up with the funding for this, which would take much more time, as we have to have our balance sheet in order to either issue more bonds or to save up the money to pay for the project itself,” he said.
The port has already approved the issuance of a $14 million bond for the project to fix the shipping terminal pier at 629 Cornwall Ave. and to repair pilings and steel beams under the cruise terminal pier at 355 Harris Ave.
That bond is part of a larger shipping terminal modernization project, projected to cost $27.5 million, meant to improve the wharf by replacing the dock, increasing the navigational depth and improving the stormwater management system.
Fix is hopeful the $17.93 million for the rail spur project will cover the entire project, even with inflation, and that ultimately, the project comes in under budget.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
