Rail Infrastructure Funding

The Washington State Legislature recently approved the 2015-17 Transportation Revenue Package which gives funding to three key rail infrastructure and economic development projects in the Columbia Basin. Columbia Basin Railroad Chief Operation Officer, Tim Kelly.

KELLY: We believe it's going to take an already vibrant agricultural economy and make it more competitive. Developing rail access to land in Grant County in the case of the Moses Lake project and the Warden project. Grant County has low power rates a good workforce and this will open up additional acreage to rail service, developing future industrial development sites that could be either manufacturing or could be food processing.

Central Washington depends heavily on rail to transport many ag products. Development of these projects will take some time since in some cases there needs to be engineering studies done.

KELLY: And if you notice how some of the funding is structured, some of the funding is structured over multiple bienniums, it's not all funded during the 15 to 17 bienniums. Some of it is in the 17-19 biennium so it could be into 2019 before things are completed.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.