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Project Title & Location
Stanwood Siding, Snohomish County
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Project Description
Currently, passenger and freight trains can be delayed up to 70 minutes due to the poor condition of siding at Stanwood. This project will upgrade the siding track to provide faster and more reliable passenger service.
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Contractor/Consultant
BNSF Railway Co., Fort Worth, TX
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Recent Progress
This project will upgrade the siding track to provide faster and more reliable passenger service. Construction work started in May 2008 with laying of new track and concrete ties for the main line track and siding near the future Amtrak Station.
The siding upgrade project has been expanded by the Legislature. This will extend the siding to allow future passenger service to stop at the planned Stanwood Amtrak Station. Siding extension project planning started in March 2008, addressing environmental permitting, road closures, and preliminary engineering. It is projected that environmental permitting will take up to 180 days to complete. BNSF is coordinating the process to close one private and one public road crossing.
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Design Construction Impacts
The project scope expansion has delayed the completion of engineering. The upgrade of the siding is coordinated with the proposed Stanwood Station and proposed siding extension.
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Environmental Impacts / Compliance
The first phase of the project, the upgrade of the existing track, requires only documentation for compliance with both the National and State Environmental Protection Acts. The second phase of this project may require extensive evaluation due to mitigation of wetlands.
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Impacts to Traffic
There may be some brief work windows that may affect rail operation for both freight and passenger trains as old signals are replaced with new signals. Amtrak Cascades passengers may experience short delays on trains traveling between Vancouver or Bellingham and Seattle.
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