Press Releases

Ridgefield Rail Overpass Project open house scheduled for March 28

3/22/2007 12:00:00 AM

Ridgefield, Wash: RIDGEFIELD - The Port of Ridgefield will host a community open house on Wednesday, March 28, from 4-7 p.m. to solicit input on the Ridgefield Rail Overpass Project. Local residents, business owners, and property owners are invited to attend at the Ridgefield Community Center, 210 N Main Street.

The meeting will allow members of the public to learn more about the project; meet members of the project team; and review and comment on the design alternatives for the proposed overpass.

The overpass will replace the two current street-level rail crossings (at Mill and Division Streets) with a single crossing over the BNSF rail line into the Port and Lake River waterfront area. By separating road from rail, the new crossing will deliver a variety of benefits for the community, Port, house boat residents, and railroad, including:

Safer access to and from the Port and waterfront area for vehicles and pedestrians.
Unobstructed access into the Port and waterfront area. This is especially important in emergency situations.
Improved rail mobility. Unimpeded by the street-level crossings, trains would be able to move through the Ridgefield area faster and safer.
Fewer train whistles. In the absence of street-level crossings, trains would not be required to blow their whistles as frequently as a warning to drivers and pedestrians.

The project will include a careful study and evaluation of its environmental impacts, in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The project team is in the process of evaluating a variety of alternatives for the new crossing. Those that address the current problems, meet the project objectives, and score high against the evaluation criteria will be presented at the March 28 open house. After the community has had an opportunity to comment on these alternatives, a preferred alternative will be selected and presented at a second project open house on April 25.

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For more project information call the Port of Ridgefield at 360.887.3873 or send an email to jlarner@portridgefield.org.

Contact: Jordan Larner, Public Relations and Communications Manager 360.887.3873 or jlarner@portridgefield.org