Washougal goes out for $50M federal transportation grant

The City of Washougal is requesting $50 million from a federal grant program to help fund its proposed 32nd Street underpass project. On Sept. 26, the Washougal City Council approved a resolution authorizing Washougal City Manager David Scott to submit an application seeking $50,600,000 from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)'s new Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program, which provides funding for highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects that focus on improving the safety and mobility of people and goods. If the city is successful in its bid for the $50 million grant, Washougal would use the money to design and construct an underpass at the railroad crossing on 32nd Street, from Main and "B" streets to "F" Place. Scott said the Railroad Crossing Elimination program is "geared specifically toward projects" like Washougal's planned 32nd Street underpass. The city of Washougal recently received a $5 million grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation and $300,000 from Washington state's 2021-23 transportation budget to help fund the underpass project. City officials have already pledged to use up to $4.82 million of local funds for the project, which will provide improved access to the Port of Camas-Washougal and the city's town center, a grade-separated railroad crossing at 32nd Street, new connector streets and road improvements within the Port's industrial park. "Having spent the better part of my career doing public works projects in and around, and under and over railroads, when I first learned of this project about five or six years ago, I thought, 'Oh, that will never happen,' because getting funding for such a project is so difficult," Councilwoman Janice Killion said during the Council's Sept. 26 meeting. "I know we don't have (the grant) yet, but I'm so exceptionally excited to hear about this." "I'm sure that if we were awarded $45 million toward a $50 million project that we would issue a bond, or do something with the license tab fees, or pledge REET (real estate excise tax) revenues or TIF (tax increment financing) revenues, to pay off that bond and come up with a little under $5 million to make a really important improvement in the community," Scott said. "We're feeling some momentum, but we'll see. There is, I think, a little less than $600 million available nationwide, and we're asking, basically, for $40 (million) of that. It's a big ask, but we could be awarded a lesser amount, and we'll be grateful for any support we can get." The City plans to install a roundabout at 32nd and Main streets; a signal at 32nd Street and Evergreen Way; a non-stopping right turn from northbound 32nd Street east on Evergreen Way; and a sidewalk and multi-use path. The underpass will ensure "the free-flow of traffic off of (Highway 14) by eliminating the delays at the rail crossing" and provide for a third BNSF Railway track, according to the city's website, which states the project is in the "early design stages." "Because (this project is) one of the higher priorities that you've tasked us with, we are pursuing it very diligently," Scott told councilmembers during the meeting. City officials have said the 32nd Street underpass project will "significantly further the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Washougal and the community by improving connectivity and mobility through a more accessible multi-modal transportation system, and firmly commits to the expenditure of local funds necessary to complete the project." "I've heard a lot of people say that it's insignificant, that it wouldn't make any difference, (and ask) why would we spend that much money on an underpass," Councilwoman Molly Coston said during the meeting. "Those are people that live on the west side of town that don't utilize that crossing every single day multiple times like I do. I can't tell you how many times I've been blocked at Highway 14 getting ready to turn north at 2:30 p.m. because of a train, or 3 p.m., or 7 p.m., or 11 a.m. And half of the time, even though it says, 'Do not walk (the) roundabout,' people will walk the roundabout, stopping traffic in all but one direction going east." "I just see this as something that we can give to our community for the next 50 years or 60 years. As we continue to develop some of our northeast region, which has a lot of land inside the urban growth boundary," Coston said. "I think it's essential that we have a much better crossing than we have. I think it's essential for economic development."

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