US 12 rail separation project inches closer to reality

The $74 million U.S. Highway 12 rail separation project in east Aberdeen is inching closer to a construction start date.

This project was first discussed in early 2013 as Grays Harbor County, the city of Arberdeen and the Port of Grays Harbor started looking at alleviating traffic snarls due to train traffic along US 12 in front of Olympic Gateway Plaza from East Heron to South Fleet Street.

Much progress has been made since the planning phase began in 2018 and Aberdeen City Engineer Nick Bird felt it was time for a major update.

“As you know one of the big projects that we’ve got moving forward is our Highway 12 rail separation, it’s not something we’ve spent a lot of time talking about,” Bird told the City Council at the January 22 regular meeting. “What I wanted to do is kick off 2025 with an update so I’ve asked Debra Seeman, who is our project manager, to come present on where we’re at and where we’re hoping to go.”

Seeman, who was recently promoted to Practice Leader for Roads and Highways at David Evans and Associates, Inc., delivered a comprehensive presentation to the City Council that included a recap of the history of the project, discussed current status and detailed the next steps.

“I have been working on this project since 2014 when it started out as a Grays Harbor Council of Governments project to find access under the railroad trestle for emergency access,” Seeman told the Council. “So this is a project I’ve been working on for over a decade.”

Seeman went on to detail the project needs which include reducing long lines of vehicles and traffic delays, improving access for transit, pedestrian, and bicycle travel, and providing efficient and effective routes for emergency vehicle access between US 12 and adjacent commercial areas all in relation to rail traffic and blockages caused by trains.

Brief history of the project

East Aberdeen Mobility Alternatives Analysis Project (2013 – 2015)

Preferred Alternative Selected

Named Chehalis Street Overcrossing

Planning Phase (2018 – 2021)

Transitioned from Council of Governments to city of Aberdeen project

Changed name to Highway Rail Separation Project

Added eastbound auxiliary ramp to design

Engaged in public outreach to remind residents about the project

Project Fully Funded (April 2023)

Nearly $74 million earmarked for all phases

Informational website launched (April 2024)

Maps, diagrams, renderings, impact, benefits, costs and more can be found at https://us12highwayrailseparation.participate.online

The website will be updated when the design footprint is finalized

The project is currently in the preliminary design phase, and work has begun on environmental documentation, right of way planning which involves evaluating the purchase of property. Seeman said it will move into the final design phase once the project footprint is confirmed. “Right of way” properties will be purchased with some needing to be demolished, and then construction will begin.

There are seven “at-grade” railroad crossings in front of Olympic Gateway Plaza along eastbound US 12, and the Newell Street crossing will need to be closed completely near the Mobil gas station, while the Chehalis Street crossing will be left partially open with its traffic signal removed. The other five will remain open.

Seeman added that the project will need approval from the Washington State Department of Transportation for improvements to US 12 including striping, the roundabout, and lane configuration. Approvals are also needed from Puget Sound and Pacific Rail (PSAP). The overcrossing will need to be 23 feet high from the railroad tracks to the bottom of the bridge girders which will allow double stack train traffic to pass through. They are also continuing to work through minimizing impact to the commercial properties which includes delivery truck routes, parking stalls, and onsite access during construction.

Bird hopes to have the footprint nailed down and approved by the Council within the next month or so.

“We have massaged this left and right and north and south, and every single time we move it one way, there’s additional consequences,” Bird said. “We feel like we have finessed it to a point to where it is right in that sweet spot where we’re minimizing the impacts as much as we reasonably can, maximizing the retention of businesses, and maximizing the functionality of this layout. We feel very comfortable with what we have, but I do think it would be wise for Council to approve that as we move forward.”

Bird added, “The expectation is hopefully we’ll be breaking ground in 2026.”

According to the project’s official website, “The main goal of the Aberdeen US 12 Highway-Rail Separation project is to improve traffic congestion, safety, and accessibility in the eastern part of the city. These improvements will benefit residents, visitors, businesses, and movement of freight. Over the past two decades, the area has experienced a significant increase in train activity bound for the Port of Grays Harbor and this growth is expected to continue.“

That may be an understatement as the Port of Grays Harbor engages in a major project of its own. In late November of last year, the Port broke ground on its Terminal 4 Expansion and Redevelopment Project which will add more than 40,000 feet of additional rail within its Marine Terminal Complex. A month earlier, Ag Processing Inc (AGP) broke ground on a new commodity export facility at Terminal 4B.

The Iowa Soybean Association, the Kansas Soybean Commission, the Nebraska Soybean Board, the North Dakota Soybean Council, the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, the Soy Transportation Coalition and the United Soybean Board contributed $1.3 million to help offset pre-engineering, design and site development costs for the Terminal 4 project.

This all adds up to a massive increase in exports of soy products, soybean meal in particular, from the Midwest to Southeast Asia through the Port of Grays Harbor, the only deep water port north of San Francisco.

“The meal comes this way in unit trains, and then those unit trains come to the Port of Grays Harbor, it gets offloaded, and that product then goes on vessels, most of it going to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and other various markets,” said Leonard Barnes, Port of Grays Harbor executive director. “It creates a lot of jobs, economic development, a lot of revenue streams when you’re building a project like this all the way to the conclusion when it’s built, you have ILWU (International Longshore & Warehouse Union) folks that are working around the clock unloading trains, loading ships. It’s a huge economic driver in our community. It’s a huge creator of jobs.”

Other commodities and products that move through the Port include liquid bulks, cars, logs, oilseeds, grains and related products.

According to the Port’s Director of Government and Public Affairs Kayla Dunlap, the railroad is mission critical.

“For the Port to grow, the rail traffic is going to grow, the rail is our lifeline here at the Port of Grays Harbor, we probably wouldn’t have marine terminals if we didn’t have rail access,” Dunlap said. “We’ve been really clear about this, essentially rail traffic to the Port will be doubling.”

Although these initiatives are being developed in parallel, the Port’s Terminal 4 expansion will be completed before the overcrossing, which will impact traffic in east Aberdeen exponentially.

“There’s probably 100 workers out there today, soon to go up to probably close to 200 in the next 60-90 days,” Barnes said. “It’s under construction, that facility is scheduled to come online probably mid-year 2026. Right now that’s the target date.”

“The City and Port, we’ve been communicating, working hard at it for years, we all have been working for quite a while to get that accomplished, but sometimes it takes time, it takes a lot of partners, at the federal, state level, etc.,” Barnes said. There’s funding, there’s engineering, there’s talking to the existing tenants. The city of Aberdeen has done an awesome job leading that, they have a good team of people and they’re working hard for the citizens of Grays Harbor, but some things just do take time.”

Former Aberdeen City Engineer (2016 – 2021) and current Port Engineer Kris Koski said it’s been full speed ahead for the US 12 rail separation project since it was fully funded in 2023.

“The biggest challenge all along for (the US 12) project is a question of money. That 2013 work, that was starting at the very beginning of the process. It was looking at a host of options, different types of bridges, intersections, different locations, and it took until 2015 to land on what was called the ‘preferred alternative,’” Koski said. “There were a number of steps until the project became fully funded. That was a huge windfall. Then the project really took off. The community has wanted this, it’s been recognized as an issue for a long time.”

As one project aims to increase rail traffic, and the other plans to alleviate current and future congestion, it remains to be seen just how drastically the Port’s burgeoning inbound shipments will affect drivers and businesses along US 12 until the rail separation project is complete and the roadways are fully open to the public.

Diagram of grade separation alternative with notable updates; November 2023

Diagram of grade separation alternative with notable updates; November 2023

Looking east during a railway traffic jam

Looking east during a railway traffic jam