Port Of Moses Lake Favoring Rail Connection From Moses Lake To The BNSF Railway Mainline Near Ephrata

Online, June 22, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Sources at the Port of Moses Lake are indicating that the Port is favoring a new rail connection that would directly connect the Grant County International Airport north of Moses Lake to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway mainline near Ephrata.

The proposed rail connection, known as Segment 5 of the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1A960145-0016-4F1B-A453-8D9D079F2069/0/NorthernColumbiaBasinRRProjFeasStudy.pdf), had been on the backburner for the past few years because of the Port of Moses Lake wanted to primarily focus on other parts of the project closer to the City of Moses Lake.

However, because of new interest by Boeing in locating a potential new aerospace manufacturing facility next to the Grant County International Airport north of the Moses Lake (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingliveeventcoverage/2015375316_post.html), the discussion about how to best connect the Airport to nearby rail lines has been thrust back into the spotlight.

The Port of Moses Lake and other Moses Lake Civic leaders plan to convene a meeting or meetings in the near future regarding the proposed Segment 5 connection from Moses Lake to Ephrata as well as other parts of the project.