The northern end of the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad received some attention last week as the Clark County Council approved a grant agreement and a contract on items totaling about $700,000.
During its April 4 meeting, the county council approved a grant for $500,000, which focuses on the rehabilitation of the railroad, which cuts through central and northeast Clark County. The grant was included in the Washington State Legislature’s supplemental transportation budget last year.
Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad, the operator of the county-owned Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, petitioned the Legislature for those funds, Kevin Tyler, lands manager for Clark County Public Works said. The funds will go to a project that repairs railroad ties, ballast and surfacing on the northern part of the railroad, a county staff report stated.
The project is a continuation of overall improvements to the railroad that began on its southern course, from its start near Lakeshore Avenue and Northeast 78th Street, to Battle Ground. That project cost about $1.5 million, according to county documents.
Tyler said construction was completed on the southern project, with only “two very minor items” left for the contractor to finish.
“For all practical purposes, that project is complete,” Tyler said.
He said the project was included in the contract the county had signed with Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad in December. That agreement featured a resolution in disputes between the railroad operator and the county over prior contracts.
Though the funding was for rehabilitation, Tyler said the railroad operator is not currently working to improve the ratings of the tracks. He said the track south of Heisson that Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad operates is rated as “accepted” class, the lowest classification of usable railroad. That classification keeps the maximum speed of trains at 10 miles per hour.
The other item approved was a roughly $200,000 contract with a consulting firm to provide railroad bridge management and annual inspection services for the railroad.
The Federal Railroad Administration audited the county’s railroad management plan in December 2022, according to a county staff report. That audit found “several defects” in the plan, including safe loading capacity for bridges, inspection processes and qualifications for engineers and inspection staff, among others.
Because the county doesn’t have its own railroad bridge engineering staff, it put out a request to find a firm that could fill that role, Tyler said. The county went with KPFF, Inc., a Portland-based engineering firm.
Tyler said the contract includes annual inspections on the county’s railroad bridges, as required by federal regulations.
About $85,000 of the contract will be funded through grants and $54,000 is included in existing budget capacity, according to the staff report. The remainder will be requested in a supplemental budget amendment in the fall, Tyler said.
Councilor Gary Medvigy brought up the crossings the railroad has, something he wants to see addressed by the county as growth continues.
“We really need to get ahead of that with some of these crossings that already we can see are going to be a problem,” Medvigy said.
Tyler said grants to address those crossings are already on his radar.
