The $8 billion set aside in the federal stimulus package for the nation’s high-speed rail system may not be the savior of the neglected transportation system, but Washington state officials hope it sets a firm foundation for the future.
The state is vying with 10 other major rail corridors across the nation and is looking to acquire $880 million from the $8 billion package to improve the region’s rail corridor between Seattle and Portland.
Centralia and Chehalis, sitting in a key section of the corridor between Seattle and Portland, stand to benefit if the federal funds come through.
“These are some pretty interesting times, probably the best of times,” said Kirk Fredrickson, Washington State Department of Transportation project manager for the State Rail and Marine Office. “Centralia has and always will be a rail city.”
Two projects in the area are being considered, but he said details about the project would be kept under wraps until the “guidances,” guidelines for what projects fall into the funding requirements, are handed out in June.
He did say the projects would go toward making it easier for passenger trains to get past the many freight trains in Centralia and Chehalis, saying the area has become a choke point.
Two local items are listed on the transportation department’s project list. One is a new crossover near China Creek that would work almost like a passing lane and allow faster passenger trains to get around slower moving freight trains.
The project would cost an estimated $3 million.
The second is a $35 million station project that will replace and realign signals on the Napavine Hill. The project would also add a main line between Centralia and Chehalis, a station platform at Centralia and an automated track switch to the Centralia Steam Plant.
Garnering a chunk of the stimulus money would increase the number of Amtrak passenger trips from Seattle to Portland from four to eight. A foundation would also be laid to increase train speeds from 79 to 110 miles per hour.
Bruce Agnew, policy director for the Cascadia Center, a Seattle-based transportation policy group, said if he had to predict the race for the cash, he’d put Washington and Oregon’s Pacific Northwest Corridor in the top five.
California would be at the top because they’ve invested the most and voters recently approved a $900 million rail bill, he said. The Midwest and Northeast corridor would follow with Washington somewhere behind them, saying the area “can hang with the best of them.”
Washington rail and transportation officials say the state has already invested significantly in rail transportation with careful and long-range planning, which they hope the federal government will take into consideration.
“This isn’t something that was thought up by a bunch of guys on the back of a napkin,” Fredrickson said.
Nearly $1 billion has been invested in the Pacific Northwest corridor since 1994. Washington state has contributed $331 million, according to WSDOT.
But Agnew and Fredrickson agree the way to quickly and vastly improve the states rail system is to not solely focus on passenger rail, but freight rail as well.
“Our perspective is twofold,” Agnew said. “One is it allows people to travel, and by doing joint freight you extend the life of I-5.”
Each train used takes about 250 trucks off the road, he added.
By making rail more accessible to everyday travel, rather than tourist occasions, congestion along the interstate would also be reduced.
Portland State University Professor Ethan Seltzer said a true high-speed rail system along the corridor would only be achieved if all local cities along the route work together.
“All of the communities have transportation issues and their priorities locally, the extent at which we as a corridor get together and let go of expensive local projects and put a priority on this,” Seltzer said.
At a time when the economy is still sputtering along, rail improvements would also pump money into local communities by bringing in jobs.
George Xu, WSDOT planning and strategic assessment manager for the state’s Rail and Marine Office, said that with $1 million, 15 jobs would be created. One billion dollars would bring in about 1,500 jobs.
Officials agree that it will take more than money to catch up to Europe’s high-speed rail system, where trains travel at upwards of 200 mph.
“We need to change our philosophy,” said Larry Salci, an independent management consultant on transportation issues. “We focus on crash worthiness, Europeans focus on crash avoidance. So if there’s a wreck and 50 to 60 people die, you just clean it up and put it back together, and that’s where we need to change. The European trains are very safe.”
But money is still a requirement to make the change. Xu said it would take at least $2 billion to achieve a true high-speed corridor between Vancouver, B.C., and Portland.
Washington and Oregon officials are in agreement that the $8 billion is a good start to catch up to Europe, but some would like to see even more contributed in lieu of other expensive aspirations.
“It needs to be bigger,” said U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. “How about we postpone sending a man to Mars and spend some of that on building a true high-speed rail system.”
Marqise Allen: (360) 807-8237