(The following story by Hasso Hering appeared on the Albany Democrat-Herald on October 1.)
ALBANY — Freight trains would cause less traffic disruption in Albany and Benton County under a proposal being advanced by the Portland & Western Railroad.
The railroad has told the Oregon Department of Transportation it intends to apply for about $6.9 million under the Connect Oregon program.
The money would help pay for building a direct connection — without getting on the Union Pacific’s main line through Albany — from the PNWR’s Toledo Branch to its Millersburg yard.
Early estimates put the total cost of the project — also known as the “Left Turn” — at roughly $9 million, according to Bruce Carswell, president of the Salem-based short line.
Carswell said Friday it would take at least two years to complete the project if the funding is granted.
The PNWR leases most of its track including the Albany yard north of Queen Avenue from the Union Pacific. It leases the Millersburg yard and the old Oregon Electric line along Water Avenue from BNSF, the former Burlington Northern.
The Left Turn was a concept that used to envision connecting the Water Avenue line to the Toledo Branch along Lafayette Street in order to get freight traffic off the east end of Water Avenue. Cars-well said that idea proved impractical.
Moreover, in the long run, it would make more sense to reroute the entire line from near Tangent to the north, getting it out of downtown Albany altogether. That’s a project that has been discussed with ODOT and would require federal funding, Carswell said.
The new Left Turn in Albany, meanwhile, would allow trains entering the city from across the Willamette River to make a left turn at about Fifth Avenue, then run along a new track next to the Union Pacific main line to the yard in Millersburg.
The yard itself also would be improved. This would allow much more switching to be done there instead of at the Asher siding near Garland Nursery in Benton County. Customers at Garland would no longer be stalled as trains stop and block its only access from and to Highway 20.
The project also would allow the company to move more switching — though not all — from the Albany yard, causing fewer blockages of Queen Avenue.
The new track alongside the UP line in Albany would enable freights to move to the Millersburg yard without stopping, cutting down on blockages of Spring Hill Drive in North Albany.
The railroad has asked ODOT to be allowed to close four grade crossings in Albany.
Diane Dennis, Albany public works director, said the request involves crossings at Fifth and Sixth avenues and Chicago and Burkhart streets.
The city council last week asked for a meeting with the railroad to discuss the request.