Vancouver, Wash. port breaks ground on $56 million rail project

Vancouver, Wash. port breaks ground on $56 million rail project    The Washington state Port of Vancouver broke ground Wednesday in a ceremony kicking off the $56 million first phase of construction on a massive rail project to unsnarl freight train congestion in the region.
   U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., led off the event with the ceremonial presentation of $5.3 million in federal funds to help pay for the construction.
   Actual work on the west Vancouver freight access route is slated to begin this fall and scheduled to be finished in 2009. When completed, the project will allow trains headed for the port to pull off of the east-west mainline tracks onto a new set of tracks, thus relieving the mainlines from congestion. The current configuration of the tracks, which can leave trains idle for hours during switching, has been cited as a major regional bottleneck for freight and passenger train traffic.
   Rail carrier BNSF, along with the port, state and federal agencies, will contribute a total of $56 million for the first phase of construction. The port also plans to spend $30 million to upgrade tracks in the port and extend rail service west. Funding for the port projects is dependent on voters approving an Industrial Development District levy in the upcoming primary election. An additional $110 million state project will separate passenger traffic from the area's freight routes, further untangling the gridlock.
   Rail service is critical to the Vancouver port, where 70 percent of cargo is moved via rail. Projections see the number rising to more than 80 percent by 2015.