A privately-owned railroad corridor running between Snohomish and Renton will soon be bought by the Port of Seattle for $107 million.
Under a long-awaited deal signed Monday, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is selling the 42-mile line because it no longer carries as much freight as the company’s other Puget Sound routes.
About 26 percent of the rail line is in Snohomish County, where county leaders said the deal is a positive step toward providing commuter train service as soon as next year.
“It preserves it for future uses,” Snohomish County Council Chairman Dave Somers said. “Instead of breaking it into small pieces, there’s one ownership.”
Port of Seattle and King County officials celebrated the agreement on Monday. King County chipped in $2 million for the right to build a bicycle and pedestrian trail on the southern 32 miles of the corridor.
What happens to the rails is up to the Port of Seattle and federal officials. The port has said it plans to continue freight service — and possibly add dinner train service — between Snohomish and Woodinville.
“The rails are staying in for now,” Port of Seattle spokeswoman Charla Skaggs said.
Talks over the purchase of the corridor lasted years, and the deal won’t close until this fall.
Then, the port promises an open public debate over what should happen along the route.
Snohomish County wants leverage sooner and is working to keep the rails in place for commuter trains all the way to tech job centers on the east side of Lake Washington.
“We think we can have the rails and the trails,” Somers said.
Somers is pushing for a deal with a private company called GNP Railway to provide daily commuter trains on the route from Snohomish to Bellevue as soon as next year. The county is negotiating with the company chairman Tom Payne.
“If we can team up with Tom Payne and get status with the federal government, the port and King County have to deal with us.”
Some neighbors are worried about the change that might be coming down the tracks.
Kirk Gillett of Maltby said he lives about 75 feet away from the rail line. He and his neighbors are concerned that commuter trains proposed to run along the rail corridor would make the area noisy and dangerous, Gillett said.
“It will devalue my property,” said Gillett, 48.
Public officials are not listening to those who oppose to the project, Gillett said.
“We will probably get a group organized to fight it,” he said.
Negotiations with Payne haven’t hit any roadblocks, said county executive director Peter Camp, an adviser to Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon on land-use issues.
The county wants a deal that ensures that the company follows through on its promises to provide service or allows the county to rescind the deal.
“We want to make sure they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do,” Camp said. “The last thing the county wants is a long-term deal that the county can’t get out of no matter what.”
The corridor is a “priceless asset,” Camp said. By preserving freight access, the port also preserves commuter mobility, Camp said.
The county is putting up no money or financial risk, Camp said.
GNP Railway is proposing to have a headquarters, train station and storage yard in Snohomish.
The city of Snohomish has little control over the project, but it is forming an advisory committee of residents, leaders and business groups to work with other parties involved in the process, city manager Larry Bauman said.
News of the purchase is “good news for both our residents and visitors to Snohomish as well as employees seeking a better commute,” Bauman said.
Snohomish residents want commuter trains and a dinner train to come to their community using the rail corridor, Snohomish City Councilwoman Karen Guzak said.
“I haven’t heard any concerns from people in the city of Snohomish,” she said.
The proposed commuter train service could provide an alternative to Snohomish commuters who now fight traffic along Highway 9, Guzak said.
“It’s a very elegant alternative. It’s much more cost-effective,” she said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
