Facts on King County’s Efforts to Save the
BNSF Eastside Rail Corridor
(Fall 2006)
King County Goal:
King County’s goal is to work to preserve the Eastside Rail
Corridor for the benefit of the public.
Current Status:
- King County and the Port of Seattle have announced a conceptual
agreement in which the port would purchase the 47-mile-long Eastside
Rail Corridor and transfer ownership to King County. In
exchange, King County would transfer ownership of King County
International Field (Boeing Field).
- This agreement is a net gain for the public. The public retains
ownership of Boeing Field and gains ownership of a 47-mile rail
corridor. The concept meets the same legal test as parks and
pools transfers. If King County doesn’t acquire the 47-mile-long
corridor, it could be sold piecemeal and would then be lost to
the public forever.
- Negotiated agreements could be completed by the end of this
year or in early in 2007, with formal adoption by the Metropolitan
King County Council and the Port of Seattle Commission in mid-
to late-2007.
Background:
- BNSF’s Eastside Rail Corridor consists of a 40 mile rail
corridor running from the north end of Renton to the city of
Snohomish, plus a seven mile spur line running between the cities
of Woodinville and Redmond. The rail corridor passes through
the King County cities of Renton, Bellevue, Newcastle, Kirkland
and Woodinville.
- The portion of the corridor that BNSF is looking to sell begins
at mile-post five by Gene Coulon Park in Renton. This is approximately
one mile north of Boeing’s Renton Plant.
- Driven by increasing maintenance costs and declining freight
use and revenues, BNSF has expressed interest in divesting this
rail corridor since the fall of 2003. BNSF has determined that
the line is not economically viable for it to continue to operate.
- In January 2004, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) began
an evaluation of the potential benefits of the preservation or
purchase of the rail corridor.
- In the spring of 2005, King County stepped forward to try to
preserve the entire corridor. Prior to that time, no agency had
engaged BNSF in discussions to preserve the entire corridor.
- On October 25, 2006 the King County Executive Ron Sims and
Port of Seattle Chief Executive Officer Mic Dinsmore announced
their concept of the Port acquiring the Eastside rail corridor
and swapping it for the King County International Airport.
Existing Uses on the Corridor:
- Annual freight car loads on this line have declined dramatically
over the years. In 2004, the Eastside Rail Corridor handled
approximately 900 freight car loads. By comparison, Seattle’s
main rail line handled approximately 500,000 freight car loads
during the same period.
- According to BNSF, there are no known new potential rail customers
with plans to use the Eastside Rail Corridor.
- Existing users of the Eastside Rail Corridor include Boeing,
Safeway, Weyerhaeuser and the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train.
Weyerhaeuser operates a box plant on the line in Bellevue and
the Boeing Company uses the line for certain fuselages. BNSF
is working with existing users to accommodate their needs as
it moves to discontinue operations on the line.
Future Uses and Public Benefits:
- King County’s primary objective is to preserve the Eastside
Rail Corridor for public use. If the corridor is broken up for
development, the corridor will be lost for public use forever.
- While the preferred use for the corridor is a trail, King County
remains open to exploring other compatible uses along the corridor.
- The PSRC is conducting a study of all feasible uses of the
corridor. The county is committed to the PSRC process. The study
involves all interested stakeholders, including existing corridor
users, trail advocates, cities along the corridor, as well as
BNSF and the county. The PSRC expects to complete its study in
early 2007. For more information see
http://www.psrc.org/projects/bnsf/reports.htm.
- Sound Transit has indicated the Eastside
Rail Corridor does not figure into its plans for eastside transportation.
- The county is committed to the thorough public process begun
by the PSRC.
PSRC link from homepage
http://www.psrc.org/projects/bnsf/reports.htm
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