(The Oregonian published the following story by Steve Mayes on its website on September 11.)
OREGON CITY, Ore. — The city’s new Amtrak station is behind schedule, and it will cost another $100,000 to complete the project.
Oregon City’s urban renewal commission this week approved spending the extra money to replace railroad ties at the station. City officials aren’t happy about the unexpected expense, which pushed the project’s cost to $1.55 million and may delay the opening by a few weeks.
On top of that, a dispute between the state and Union Pacific Railroad threatens to reduce passenger service to Oregon City. The city expected Amtrak’s Cascades trains, which make two daily round trips between Portland and Eugene, to stop at the new Washington Street station.
Here’s the problem:
The tracks are owned by Union Pacific. The state, which now spends $4.4 million a year to subsidize Amtrak’s Cascades route, agreed in 2000 to come up with $15 million for track improvements in return for permission to add the second train.
But the Legislature didn’t budget the track improvement money in 2001 or 2003.
Union Pacific notified the state several months ago that if the 2003 Legislature didn’t set aside $15 million, the second train would stop running 30 days after lawmakers adjourned, said John Bromley, the railroad’s public affairs director.
“We’re not willing to overlook this forever,” Bromley said.
Pat Egan, the governor’s legislative director, said the state has a backup plan — a $10 million funding package using lottery bonds, highway funds and economic development cash.
“We’ll have something very concrete we can put in front of (Union Pacific) . . . by the middle of next week,” Egan said. “We fully intend to do a list of projects that are beneficial to them and us.”
Egan said Gov. Ted Kulongoski is a big rail supporter and “fully aware of the new station in Oregon City.”
The city hopes the station — near the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center — will be a boon for tourism and draw regional and international visitors. The Cascades route connects with Vancouver, B.C.
“We believe this is an economic engine for us,” Oregon City Mayor Alice Norris said.
“It’s disappointing to be promoting a project and have it go south,” said Norris, a member of the Choo Choo Caucus. The group of passenger rail advocates successfully lobbied the 2003 Legislature for $8.8 million needed to operate the two Cascades through mid-2005.
Meanwhile, construction stopped on the Oregon City station late last month after Union Pacific said the city had to pay to replace the ties on track next to the station.
Union Pacific told the city in May that they expected Amtrak to pay for the track work, said Nancy Kraushaar, Oregon City’s public works director.
“Here we are in the 11th hour of construction,” Kraushaar said. “It would have been helpful to discuss this a year ago.”
Late last month, Union Pacific halted station construction by pulling its flagger off the project.The railroad flagger monitors train traffic and must be present during rail-side construction.
Kraushaar said the city’s agreement to fix the tracks should get the project rolling again soon, and the station should be finished by late November, a few weeks behind schedule.
Although the city’s urban renewal commissioners grumbled, they said they had little choice other than kicking in the $100,000 to keep the project going.