The Legislature worked into triple overtime this year, but it did finally deliver our corner of Washington some great news: It committed the state to contributing $85 million to the Tennant Way/Industrial Way rail corridor project.
The importance of the action can’t overstated. … We simply can’t wait. Rail upgrades — vehicle overpasses, new tracks, new signaling and an additional bridge over the Cowlitz River — are essential to avoiding congestion and making the Port of Longview and other industrial property attractive to business investment that will create jobs and generate taxes.
The sooner new infrastructure can be put in place the better, because the Port of Longview is facing unprecedented competition.
To the north, the ports of Seattle and Tacoma have formed the Seaport Alliance to search for new customers to replace the loss of container business to Canada. To the south, the Port of Portland is struggling, too. In April, Korea-based Hanjin and Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd pulled their container business out of Portland. Terminal 6 on the Willamette River, which once bustled with container activity, is almost idle.
All this points to increased competition for all the ports scattered on both sides of the Columbia River and underscores the need for local infrastructure improvement sooner rather than later.
