Federal stimulus money: Rail Authority to go after $60 mill grant to fix track

The Palouse River and Coulee City Rail Authority is finalizing an application for a $60 million federal stimulus grant to replace tracks and ties on 243 miles of the eastern Washington shortline rail system.

Joe Poire, executive director of the Port of Whitman, said the grant funds would be spent on track rehabilitation. The port represents Whitman County on the four-county Rail Authority.

The rail authority would upgrade most of the track from Class 1 rail, which can only handle traffic up to 10 miles per hour, to Class 2 rail, which would allow trains to travel up to 25 miles per hour. Those upgrades would cut shipment time easily in half, said Poire.

Some short sections of the rail system have been upgraded by the sub-contracted operators, but a whole-scale replacement of higher-gauged track is an astoundingly costly procedure, said Poire.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “That used to be a big number for me too before we elected this President and the money started coming down like crazy.”

The total grant amount equates to just under $247,000 per mile. Poire said the cost to replace some of the bridges on the three lines amplifies the total number.

In the application, the rail authority states Watco, former owners of the rail system, fell seriously short in maintenance efforts. The authority said Watco put $3,100 per mile into track maintenance, well below the industry standard of $6,000 to $8,000.

That created a backlog of maintenance to ties, road crossings and bridges.

Washington state has tried to counter that by devoting $27.7 million to purchase the lines and catch up on deferred maintenance.

Poire said the authority would have liked to include a major project like reconnecting the P&L and PV Hooper lines in Whitman County, but such a project would take too long to put together to include in the application.

Federal stimulus guidelines say the money must be spent on “shovel-ready” projects that can be put together quickly.

The reconnect, whether from Oakesdale to Thornton or Colfax to Pullman, would take years to permit and acquire rights-of-way.

The link between the two lines was destroyed when fire burned out a bridge on the line between Colfax and Pullman.

The application adds the rails are crucial to the regional economy, because they provide access to eastern U.S. markets for shipping out grains and logs and shipping in fertilizer, chemicals and equipment.

They also provide a more competitive market for transportation of freight, reduce maintenance on roadways and reduce greenhouse emissions, the application stated.

All were among desired outcomes of stimulus money, said Poire.

The PCC Rail Authority was created in March, 2008, to administrate the state-owned rail system which runs through four counties. Representatives from Grant, Lincoln, Spokane and Whitman counties sit on the authority.