Oregon’s Port of Coos Bay has secured a $205 million US Department of Transportation grant to upgrade the railway connecting the port with Class I rail services across the Coast Range, The Maritime Executive reported. The investment would support plans for a $2.3 billion container terminal with intermodal rail connections, although construction of the proposed terminal remains conditional.
The award comes through the department’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements programme, known as CRISI, and received backing from Oregon’s congressional delegation. It adds to an $11 million Port Infrastructure Development Program grant awarded earlier this year for separate work on the Coos Bay Rail Line. According to the report, department officials have highlighted the scope to combine these funding programmes with other sources to finance major developments as well as smaller repairs and upgrades.
The planned Pacific Coast Intermodal Port would accommodate Neopanamax container vessels with capacities of up to 13,000 TEU. Project sponsor NorthPoint says demand from major retail customers would underpin a terminal dedicated to transferring containers directly to rail for onward transport to inland consumers. The Maritime Executive described the proposed development as the only saltwater facility of its type between the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.
Marine access would also need substantial changes. The proposal calls for the channel depth to increase from 37 feet to 45 feet, alongside widening by 150 feet. That work would extend from the harbour entrance to a point up to eight miles inland from the bar. Senator Jeff Merkley said the rail grant would advance the ambition of establishing the West Coast’s first fully ship-to-rail port facility, while supporting local union employment.
The terminal would offer an alternative to container gateways including Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles/Long Beach. It would also compete with Portland’s Terminal 6, recently renamed Oregon Container Terminal. That facility is Oregon’s only existing container terminal and, according to The Maritime Executive, supports a single weekly transpacific service operated by SM Line.