(The following story by John Stark appeared on The Bellingham Herald website on November 18.)
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The city and BNSF Railway have reached a deal to complete preliminary engineering on central waterfront track relocation in the coming year.
The city has agreed to pay the $100,000 cost of the preliminary work on the $12 million project, which would mean an easterly shift for about three-quarters of a mile of track that now cuts through the old Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill site. Tom Rosenberg, assistant city public works director for special projects, said he expects the track work to be complete in three to five years.
Besides the work of moving the track, the $12 million estimate includes about $3 million for relocation of city utilities affected by the railroad project.
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The city is paying for the preliminary work because the track relocation project benefits both the city and the railroad, Rosenberg said. Besides clearing one significant barrier to redevelopment of 220 mostly-idle industrial acres on the central waterfront, the move will eliminate some troublesome grade crossings.
“It’s a significant opportunity to work with the railroad towards this goal of relocating the mainline track to a safer and more effective location for the railroad and the city,” Rosenberg said. “It’s taken a year to get this agreement. This is no small deal.”
The agreement also helps ensure that the city will be able to hang onto a $5 million state grant that has already been allocated to help pay project costs. The city needs to show some real progress or risk losing that money, Rosenberg said.
Who will pick up the tab for the rest of the project cost? Rosenberg said that’s still being worked out, and the railroad could pay a share.
“I’m hoping that there will be some cash-sharing and I’m hoping the railroad will ante up some money for this,” Rosenberg said.
Railroad spokesman Gus Melonas was noncommittal.
“We are in discussion and review stage with the city regarding this project,” Melonas said in an e-mail.
State and federal funding for improvements to privately owned railroads are far from unusual. The Washington Department of Transportation’s Web site lists 33 rail projects around the state that either have state funding or are proposed to get it.
Now that the railroad relocation process is officially under way, the city needs to move quickly to build a new Cornwall Avenue bridge over the spot where the new track will be located. Rosenberg said it will be much simpler and cheaper to build that bridge before BNSF starts running freight trains beneath it.
The city has access to a $6 million federal grant, allocated by the state DOT, to help to pay for the bridge. Again, Rosenberg said, the city needs to show real progress on the project to keep that money available. He expects the bridge project to get under way in 2009.
Noise and other environmental impacts of the move will be analyzed as part of the study process, Rosenberg said.