This document was read & given to Yakima City Council on 12-2-08

September 18, 2001 adjourned meeting minutes

Yakima City Staff estimates the cost of the Grade separation aka “Underpasses” for “MLK Jr.” St. & Lincoln Avenue at $14,000,000.

March 19,2002 adjourned meeting minutes.

Mr. Wolcott from Berger ABAM Engineering reviewed the problems caused by the BNSR rail traffic. Safety concerns at the Railroad grade crossings have caused accidents and it was noted a fatality occurred at the Mead avenue crossing which involved the Central Railroad. In addition, the delay caused by the estimated 4-24 through trains per day was expected to impact Police and Fire response time.

As it turns out there is a much greater safety factor existing when you consider that the East bound traffic on Lincoln avenue is choked down to a sharp right hand 90% turn on to Pierce avenue heading South about %of a block then another sharp left hand 90% turn to enter eastbound MLK Jr. This traffic transition is a hazard and doesn’t speak well of engineering – photos taken Nov. 15th

2008.

Air pollution: The City was/is concerned about the air pollution created by idling cars stopped for trains. It is my belief there is more air pollution created by cars stopped for traffic lights on MLK Jr. and Lincoln avenues. Cross traffic lights are triggered immediately when one car approaches thus causing MLK Jr. & Lincoln traffic to stop unnecessarily. This occurs early in the morning between 5 am and 6:30 am.

September 18, 2001 adjourned meeting minutes.

Traffic: The City has calculated the average vehicle delay at 9 minutes per crossing. By 2030 the estimated delay at rail crossings would be 11 minutes per train to clear.

2008 Facts:

3 BNSF through-trains heading south were timed to determine the traffic delay at the Yakima R/R crossings and the results were train #1 = 3 minutes 3 seconds to clear; train #2 = 4 minutes 3 seconds to clear and Train #3 = 4 minutes to clear.

September 18, 2001 adjourned meeting minutes.

City statistics showed through trains totaled 4 to 6 per day with a potential capacity of 12 to 14 per day. The City argues that enlarging the Stampede Pass tunnel and other line improvements could increase trains per day through Yakima to 20 – 26. Mr. Walcott claims to have documents supporting the increased train capacity.

2008 Facts:

BNSF has no immediate plans to invest in Washington. There is no longer a bottleneck in the Stevens Pass Tunnel. There’s has been a phenomenal increase in productivity, including the expansion to 10,000 foot trains through the Stevens Pass Tunnel instead of 7,000 foot trains. See 6-27/7-3-2008 Puget Sound Business Journal.

September 18, 2001 adjourned meeting minutes.

Trains – Mr. Wolcott pointed out that the Railroad is a private company and their business depends on competition as well as the import/export of goods. It was noted the BNSF – SPS route through the Columbia River Gorge was at their capacity, leaving the Stampede pass route as the most likely to be expanded.

2008 Facts:

The Columbia River Gorge route of SPS will receive improved connections where the North-South Rail line turns east to parallel the Columbia River to the Vancouver Bypass when the $115 million project is completed. Further, executives for the West’s two largest railroads are pouring money into Southern California routes, whiles investing very little in the Northwest. Los Angeles and Long Beach have the best prospects for import growth while Puget Sound ports stalled at about a quarter of the Southern California volume. See 6-27/ 7-3-2008 Puget Sound Business Journal.

March 19,2002 adjourned meeting minutes.

Mr. Wolcott suggested “MLK Jr.” and Lincoln Ave. should be Phase 1 of the grade separation “underpasses” project due to the amount of traffic utilizing those streets. Estimates of probable construction cost for Phase 1 were $24,963,339. By 2005 estimated costs for the same Phase 1 construction had risen to $29,950,000 and $34,770,000 by the end of 2006.

Currently, the cost estimate for this project has increased to over $42,000,000 with no end in sight. This figure does not included the additional costs to purchase BNSF property west of the main tracks and south of Lincoln Avenue which we guess will be upwards of $750,000.

Fact: 8-19-2008 “Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce” Mexico has opened bidding on a new $4 billion Seaport that will rival Los Angeles and Long Beach which are the largest ports in America. The Punta Colonet Project is located 150 miles south of the U.S. border and a planned railroad would bring containers directly to points across the mid-western U.S. and is anticipated to begin operation in 2012 with a capacity to handle 2 million 20 foot containers and could expand to several times more. Yes, these freighters would be sailing from Asia with goods heading north.

Fact: 9-2-2008 “Los Angeles Times” Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle and Tacoma imports are down 13% for first 7 months of 2008. Those that are in the know don’t believe a turnaround will begin before the second quarter of 2009. Now, with financial institutions and Wall Street in distress, it is anybody’s guess as to what will occur.

Fact: 6-27-2008 “Puget Sound Business Journal” the Vancouver Fraser Port authority will spend $2.5 Billion on a new offshore terminal doubling their capacity to 5 million 20 foot containers. In addition, expanding the terminal to handle 12 million 20 foot containers. The newly opened Prince Rupert port has a goal of handling containers from Asia bound for the Mid-West. British Columbia ports were up 7% the first half of 2008, while Seattle was down nearly 5*A>.

IT APPEARS, BASED ON THE ABOVE-STATED FACTS, THE ESTIMATED TRAIN TRAFFIC STASTISTICS USED TO START THIS PROJECT WERE INACCURATE. NOW THAT CURRENT AND ESTIMIATED FUTURE TRAIN TRAFFIC SHOWS THAT THE PREVIDUS TRAIN TRAFFIC PROJECTIONS HAVE NOT BEEN REALIZED, THE WISE MOVE WOULD BE, AT A MINIMUM, TO REDUCE THIS “UNDERPASSES” PROJECT TO ONE (1) ONLY UNDERPASS!!!!

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