cheney proposes moving portion of railway along sr 904

Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove believes that if you're going to point out a problem then you should also think about offering a solution.

For Trulove and other city officials, the problem is the ever-growing amount of train traffic through the city, a problem made more of an issue by the groundbreaking in December on a grain terminal and rail yard near the intersection of Craig Road and Medical Lake-Four Lakes Road. Once built, the terminal will allow a consortium of grain cooperatives organized under Highline Grain LLC to assemble and load 110-car unit trains that can be picked up by Burlington Northern Santa Fe engines and hauled back to BNSF lines intersecting at Cheney via the Eastern Washington Gateway branch of the Palouse River Coulee City Railway.

It's not the terminal per se that worries Cheney officials, but rather the 6.9 miles of track, which will need to be upgraded to accommodate larger and heavier trains that could travel faster than the currently allowed 10 mph. That track also hooks up with the Geiger Spur line, seen by many area business and government leaders as a key ingredient to bringing more economic growth to the West Plains.

That growth could then lead to more than just periodic grain trains entering Cheney and blocking access to the city from the north via State Route 904, as well as traffic along Betz Road, which serves as the main entrance to Eastern Washington University. More trains, longer trains, even if traveling faster would not only create traffic delays for students and residents, but also pose safety issues such as delaying emergency service vehicles responding to a call.

"We don't want to absorb all of the social costs from increased train traffic on the West Plains, which is what would happen if this goes through," Trulove said.

Those costs could be further exacerbated should a passing train stall or derail, something Cheney residents experienced Jan. 15 when a smaller, 30-car Eastern Washington Gateway train jumped the tracks while crossing Cheney-Spokane Road, blocking that main connection to the Marshal area and Spokane for two days. If something like that should happen to a longer train crossing Betz Road, and without engines on either end, it could be much longer before Cheney's main entrance is reopened.

"You're not going to do it (move the train) with your Ford 350," Trulove said.

Cheney officials have raised their concerns about the potential problem with state and county officials, including representatives from the Washington State Department of Transportation. But, Cheney has also proposed a solution - move the tracks.

In a January meeting with WSDOT representatives, Trulove and City Administrator Mark Schuller presented three alternatives for re-routing the Eastern Washington Gateway tracks, all of which called for a train underpass beneath SR 904. The first alternative would realign the tracks so that they traveled along the eastern side of the highway, crossing only Betz Road east of the intersection and reconnecting with existing tracks just south of the Maverik station.

The second alternative rerouted the line further to the east so that it crosses Betz behind Maverik and the public storage facility and reconnects with existing track to the east of Presnell's Trailer Court. The third alternative, which Trulove said WSDOT officials seemed to like the most, crosses SR 904 to the north of Paradise Road, but instead of running along the highway, continues east over the existing wetlands, then turns south to the east of the wetlands, crosses Betz and eventually reconnects with the existing line just northeast of Bi-Mart.

Trulove said alternatives two and three would require the state to purchase additional right of way, whereas that is not an issue in alternative one. There is also the larger issue of money, which the state does not have in plentiful supply right now.

Trulove said construction of a grade separation, train underpass, would run around $30 million. The Palouse River County City Railway has been allocated $50 million in the state Senate's proposed transportation bill, but that money is mostly for repairs along the line's entire route, including $7 million needed to repair the Eastern Washington Gateway portion between Cheney and the grain terminal.

But rerouting the tracks, especially under alternative three, could open more land that would be attractive to railroad associated uses and businesses, bringing a measure of economic development to Cheney.

"We think the opportunity is great," Trulove said.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.