Port completes key segment of West Vancouver Freight Access project

 VANCOUVER, Wash. – Today the Port of Vancouver USA announced completion of the Terminal 5 Unit Train Improvement project.  The project, part of the larger West Vancouver Freight Access (WVFA) project, adds 35,000 feet of new rail capacity to the port’s internal system.  The new track, constructed in a loop with associated yard tracks, is located at the port’s recently developed Terminal 5 (T-5) and will provide rail service for a variety of cargoes, including wind energy components.  Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) began using the new loop track at the end of June.

“Completion of the T-5 loop track is another step forward in our efforts to create family-wage jobs by investing in port infrastructure,” said Larry Paulson, the port’s executive director.  “The more competitive we are as a port, the more we’re able to retain existing tenants and customers, as well as attract new businesses to our region."

The new loop track allows unit trains, which can be up to 7,500 feet in length, to be handled within the port’s internal rail complex, reducing congestion in BNSF’s Vancouver rail yard and on BNSF’s main north/south and east/west rail lines.  It is estimated that completion of the Terminal 5 Unit Train Improvement project will decrease congestion on the main lines by 25 percent. Even greater congestion relief for the main lines, estimated at 40 percent, will be realized when the WVFA project is complete.

Designated officially complete by BNSF on June 29, the loop track was finished ahead of schedule and on budget.  Construction of the loop track began in November 2009 and cost approximately $14.6 million.  To date, the port has invested in excess of $66 million in the Terminal 5 Unit Train Improvement project, which includes acquisition of right-of-way, permitting, engineering, and construction. 

Delivery of the project marks the first major milestone under the West Vancouver Freight Access and Industrial Track Agreement, an agreement reached between the port and BNSF in 2008 that provides the overall blueprint and timeline for the WVFA project.  One of 20 phases of the overall project, the loop track serves as the western terminus and the already completed rail improvements near the City of Vancouver’s waterfront redevelopment of the former Boise Cascade site bookends the project on the east. 

With emphasis on how critical the WVFA project is to attracting future private investment, the port is aggressively continuing its efforts to fund the remaining phases of the project.  Estimated cost of the West Vancouver Freight Access project is $137 million, with targeted completion in 2017.

About the Port of Vancouver USA

The Port of Vancouver USA, created by Clark County taxpayers in 1912, is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast. Its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community.

The Port of Vancouver is in the midst of a year full of projects and developments that will lead to vital job creation, economic stimulation and environmental preservation. By diversifying its cargo mix between bulk commodities, breakbulk and project cargos, the port is responsible for job generation and significant contributions to the tax base for not only its own community, but also the state of Washington. Current expansion of the port’s rail system and development of new port industrial and marine properties will bring new jobs – both short term and long term – and the preservation of wetlands, the creation of enhanced wildlife habitat, and make way for more green/sustainable business partners operating from the port.