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Project Title & Location
Palouse River & Coulee City RR Acquisition -- Grant, Lincoln, Spokane, Whitman, & Adams Counties
Palouse River & Coulee City RR Rehabilitation--Grant, Lincoln, Spokane, Whitman, & Adams Counties
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Project Description
Purchase the 296-mile Palouse River and Coulee City RR to preserve the transportation corridors for long-term availability. Select operators for each Branch and make emergency repairs to provide an immediate opportunity for economically viable freight transportation operations.
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Recent Progress
Acquisition
WSDOT is working with the PCC and shippers to establish boundaries for each lease on the P & L and PV Hooper branches. This will provide the basis for preparing the final deed that will formally transfer the additional property that the State purchased in the May 2007 transaction with the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad.
Rehabilitation
A wildfire destroyed a trestle and four miles of ties between Creston and Davenport on the CW Branch in late August. WSDOT replaced the trestle within five days with a culvert and dirt fill. The operator replaced enough ties to resume operation within another nine days. The contractor working on the CW Branch and PV Hooper Branch rehabilitation projects diverted its operation, with State permission, to work with the operator during the time needed to complete the tie work. Despite the delay, the CW Branch rehabilitation project is on schedule to be completed in November 2008 as planned. The PV Hooper project should also be completed in November.
The projects on the P & L Branch are on schedule to be completed in early November 2008 by another contractor.
Additional Rehabilitation Projects and Oversight of Operating Leases
The PCC Rail Authority has met with the shippers and the railroads as part of its business oversight and economic development function. It is planning to review the railroads' business plans carefully when they are submitted in November as required by the operating leases.
WSDOT is directly managing the additional rehabilitation projects for 2009 at the Rail Authority's request. Planning, environmental work, and engineering are progressing on a schedule that will allow construction to begin in the spring of 2009.
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Environmental Impacts / Compliance
No environmental compiance is required, because the railroad is already in operation.
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Impacts to Traffic
Purchase of the railroad will provide an opportunity for shippers to continue to use rail as a modal choice in portions of eastern Washington. Truck traffic should be reduced as a result.
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