DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

The Port of Coos Bay, Oregon has received a federal Department of Transportation grant for $205 million to upgrade the Coos Bay Rail Line, the short-line railway that links the small port to Class I rail services on the other side of Oregon's Coast Range. The grant was funded through DOT's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, and had support from Oregon's congressional delegation. Once completed, it will support the port's plans to build out a $2.3 billion container terminal with intermodal rail connections - the only saltwater facility of its kind between the Bay Area and Seattle.

"The grant will bring us closer to the Port of Coos Bay becoming the first fully ship-to-rail port facility on the West Coast—a watershed moment for the region and our state,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). “The Port of Coos Bay project stands to create economic opportunities for working families by creating good-paying, local union jobs, and together, we’ll get this project over the finish line.”

The funding augments an $11 million Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grant from DOT that was awarded for other work on the rail line earlier this year. The department's officials have recently emphasized the possibility of combining PIDP, CRISI and other funding streams to underwrite larger projects like Coos Bay's boxship terminal (in addition to incremental upgrades and repairs).

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →