From Stark
At today’s joint meeting of the Port Commission and City Council, Bellingham Public Works Director Ted Carlson said plans for a new Cornwall Avenue railroad bridge are on indefinite hold because of the $40 million cost involved in both relocating the rail line and building the new street overpass.
Carlson also mentioned that the city had long assumed that the bridge would have to be built to accommodate a double track. But recently, he said, railroad officials have expressed a preference for three tracks through the area, which would add to the cost of the bridge.
Three tracks? I wonder what that could be about. I hope nobody will indulge in speculation here.
By the way, you can check out the full port-city staff Powerpoint on the latest waterfront planning ideas here.
Could be an opportunity to renegotiate the railroad franchise through Bellingham?
Last time, when the Pinkertons blocked the path through Boulevard Park, the City renegotiated a deal that added the rail lines through Fairhaven (an administrative oversight since consolidation with Bellingham) and upped the speed limit from 35 to 50. That was intended to speed up passenger service, but applies to all trains.
John, any idea who authored the linked document? Thanks
Could this all be a ploy to switch to an inland route through farm country to supply the proposed coal port? Or potentially just to use the inland route for the empty trains’ return trip?
Ugh, I hate to see most of these historic structures bulldozed. Because a single consultant says it has no value and it’s in the way of a road — hmm. It’s what makes the waterfront interesting. It’s gross that what is being planned is a Bellwether Phase II. Was sad to see many of these buildings torn down. I look at this area a lot like the Pearl District in Portland, where dozens of historic old buildings still sit amongst a lot of new shiny development. It adds a lot of value to ones sense of place.
Sv, why do you think we can’t muster the vision to pull this off? The hindrance seems to be the port that wants to play the overlord, but will we just have this big eye sore for decades as a monument to the shortsightedness of three highly political partisan commissioners–a sure argument for 5?
As for BNSF, they are an arrogant entity with tunnel vision, an unshakable pre-determined agenda and no loyalty to do anything for Bellingham but rumble through and disrupt and do Peabody’s bidding. Don’tkniw how you fight this as their power over their right of way seems unassailable.
Well, in the words of Gomer Pyle, “Sur-prize, sur-prize, sur-prize.”
I would not DREAM of indulging in speculation about the need for increased rail capacity for coal, John. Nor would I ever use the words “holding waterfront development hostage until they get what they want.” With Communitywise Bellingham announcing the imminent release of rail studiea, and neighborhood associations being asked to consider support for a city push for quiet zones, it’s fairly obvious there’s a huge elephant in the room and we’d better get aquainted sooner rather than later.
I’ll speculate:
Perhaps it’s true that they plan to route coal trains, and other cargo, through Bellingham whether or not we build an export terminal at Cherry Point. It was explained to me they would much prefer not to send trains through Canada because the longer it’s on their track, the more of the money they receive. As of about 6 months ago, there were multiple capacity improvement projects planned for a variety of Canadian ports. I know that everyone “poo poo”s that idea but since we are guessing….
I’m going to look at this from the BNSF viewpoint. I am a ‘train’ guy (not in the industry), but I am most assuredly not in favor of the coal trains, and while I don’t live in B’ham anymore, members of my family are still there and this affects them.
Most of the BNSF line through Whatcom County is squeezed by geography, particularly from Chuckanut to west Bellingham. Modern railroad operations generally specify two tracks, one in each direction, if a given entity is going to have efficient, safe, and speedy train traffic. Lacking the ability to double-track, the operator must install sidings capable of holding long trains (like coal or container trains), and this may be what BNSF has in mind when proposing three tracks.
The BNSF line from Everett to New Westminster is at its most constricted in Whatcom county. Chuckanut alone would cost millions to double track – I’m going out on a limb here, but well into the $100 million range at the very least, probably much more. Not all that likely to happen.
Heading west from the old station in Old Town to Cliffside Drive, the rising track up the bluff is another choke point. Not only would a second track impinge on all of the adjoining residents, but the bridge at Little Squalicum would have to be replaced by one carrying two tracks. Again, another very costly fix that isn’t likely to happen. Both of these construction projects would be years in the execution, and, of course, slow current rail traffic to a crawl. No one wants that.
The solution from their view? As many sidings as they can build within town. BNSF already has the needed long sidings at Bow, Custer, and Blaine, and those are used daily in their current operations. Which leads me to this: at least two dedicated sidings are needed within town, each at least 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 miles in length. What about the “third” track in town? Well, most likely that would simply be a second siding off of the longer siding. With all of the projected traffic, trains will pile up if there is no room, so another siding for smaller trains to pause in or go around stopped trains (like Amtrak) is warranted in their view.
BNSF already has the necessary width to their right of way to double track everything in the county, but the bank account doesn’t have the requisite juice to do it, and the increased traffic is not enough to warrant actually doing it. Simply building more sidings is the most economical way to increase the traffic load.
As to the cross-county line running from Lynden to Cherry Point: that would be a land acquisition minefield that no one, giant corporation or state, wants to enter.
IMHO the coal trains will be a coming whether Cherry Point gets a port or not!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Pottersville! Here we come! Where’s Jimmy Stewart when you really need him?
Peabodyham.
http://www.songmeanings.net/m/song/143114/
You know why you have Potterville’s in this world, it’s when people are not free to make their own choices?
How do people become free and stay free as individuals?
With prosperity, the type that is bought to us by the free market fuel by cheap energy, where people can make choices about who they work for because there are more than one choice or job, the type that allows people to decide who they buy a house from because they have the money to say NO! to people like Potter, the type that allows people to stand on their own two feet and not live on their knees begging for the crumbs from those who know what is best from the rest!
Me favorite line from the movie btw:
Annie: I been savin’ this money for a divorce, if ever I got a husband.
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
The only Potter is actually Peabody, and he cares not for our freedoms to say”.. hit the bricks old cranky corrupt man. We don’t want to buy into your destructive world view in this town.”. If you make $22. An hour all your life, you’re going to be at the food bank when you are 70. Is that the dream port workers work for?
This is a very clever ploy by BNSF to engineer their own demise by exacting tribute that is untenable.
They hate moving coal as much as we hate having it moved.
It is very bad for their machinery, I read that somewhere.
$22 an hour ain’t too shabby IMHO, and I know plenty of people who have made less and never needed to go to a food bank.
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
I’s betcha BNSF complains all the way to the bank, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
You won’t be able to put your kids though school without government help. You won’t ever fully own a home. Or be ancient when you do. You might get a couple of weeks vacation a year in Everett. God help you when your body starts to fail as they all do, unless your employer has solid health care. You might be able to travel as far as California, but not stay long. Everyone making $22. an hour knows they are far down the ladder in terms of consumables., especially looking out long term. Do people make due? Sure. But they don’t come anywhere near the low side of the Anerican dream. That takes at least $35. an hour and a lot of frugality to boot. Most people in this town will be lining up from the senior center to the food bank by age 65. I guess that is the new American dream. But it is a bad dream. Let them eat day old donuts?
First; money doesn’t measure happiness.
Making an honest living is more important than how much you make. Standing on your oiwn two feets is better than living on your knees.
If you can not afford everything someone else has but you do it on your own that has value that can not be measured by how much you make.
Hank it seems you measure a person by what they make, you can live a good life and provide for your family without government help and make quite a bit less than $35/ hour or $22/hour because a good life is not measure by the value of a paycheck.
Maybe spending more time thinking about being a good person will take you farther in life than worrying about how much you make, IMHO!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Every single family in America gets ‘government help’.
Most is government help that is paid for by those families or (the bad part) families of future Americans.
There is a difference between taking something you paid for and taking a handout, IMHO!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
“money doesn’t measure happiness”? Now there’s a deflection. Tell that to someone trying to raise kids on a single person’s wages. And no one works just for the pleasure of it unless it’s their own business. And even not then if they need the money. So coal port workers should take the low wages and just be glad they have a job. Don’t worry that the CEO makes 400 times as much and doesn’t break a sweat. Crazy talk!
Hank, my understanding is the $22/hour wage earners will count themselves lucky when they look through the windows into the offices at the majority of employees — clerical types who dream of earning the wages of the lucky very few yard workers. But, hey, money doesn’t buy happiness, and thank goodness neither does a healthy environment in our coastal waters because when those ship collisions with oil tankers that almost never occur do eventually occur, we’ll have sold our aquaculture industry and much of the resource-related industries and their related jobs for the crap jobs AFY doesn’t mind because, after all, money didn’t buy us happiness. But we were standing’ tall, by golly!
There surely is a statement being made when one person looks down their nose at another because of the so call crap job the other has.
To me, anyone who is working to feed and cloth their family and find a better day for their childern is to be admired.
We as a society should be striving to help those who want to help themselves by providing opportunities, opportunty that is provided by both better jobs and better pay but will not be provided by policies that will destroy those opportunities.
What kind of person is too good to do a so called crap job when his or her family needs them too?
There are many people who do what they have to do for their families and they are proud of it and they are some of the most happy people I have ever known.
Mo money might be nice but it won’t buy you real love, don’t ya know! Life, love, and happyness ain’t just about money, hopefully you fellas get to find that out one day.
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
“What worries you, masters you.”
John Locke
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Sorry to rain on your rant, but Who called any job a crap job? I’m talking realism here. If you worked all your life for low wages though, you are going to be hard bitten by my retirement age. No one is looking down a nose. If you don’t have a mill and a half in assets and savings, etc. By retirement, you are not going to be able to maintain even a middle class life style and you will not maintain much with the pittance of social security you have earned from that job.
And you pretending you are not far above that is a hoot.
I would never look down my nose at any working man of any stripe, or political affiliation. I do fear for my friends in those jobs when they reach my age. I assume then you are a big proponent of single payer health care? Because without it, an economically disadvantaged person, who has tried to build for the future on those wages, is going to need much more than we do to help now.
Jeeze HANK,
You don’ know anything about local information, do you? The whole problem is that Bellingham goes for the low wages jobs. We are on the low end for a County and WORSE when it comes to Bellingham. We are f’d and people like you want to keep it that way.
It is well to respect the working person no matter what job they have or how much they make.
Not everyone can go to college nor should they, our Technical school has some very good programs of training for skills that will lead to well paying jobs, the key is to have those jobs available once they get that training.
It would be good to have a community united for that end.
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Finally I can agree with our Friend AFY – respect the working person.
Coal terminal jobs are not among those that either reward training or bring benefit to the community.
All jobs and all work are not created equal,
some tasks remove the worker from shared values
and some jobs destroy the neighborhood instead of build it.
It’s out of respect for the dignity of the working person that we oppose that kind of temporary employment.
Respect the working man? Give him/ her health care. Pay her as much as him? Give them both maternity and family leave.
Don’t just say, be proud, be independent and go forth and do it while paying for health care that costs about half as much per month as you earn.
Then pay more taxes than the CEO making 400 times as much as you.
And then depend on a similar to pell grant, if you’re ever going to send your kid to school and let him/her experience, explore and decide on his or her own if working at bare minimum livable wages is the way he or she would like to go. But Oops! Mitt says borrow from your parents. So, Parents, I guess you are on your own.
Don’t consign and resign the good common salt of the earth working people to be unable to find their
own level with Republican policies worthy of civil unrest.
“The Gateway Pacific Terminal project at Cherry Point could create more than 1,200 permanent jobs when indirect impacts are factored in…Martin Associates estimated 2,210 direct jobs and another 3,011 in indirect and induced jobs over a two-year period, for a total of 5,221….
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/10/28/2246590/economists-cargo-terminal-would.html#storylink=cpy
Many of these jobs are jobs that people are being trained to do at our very own Bellingham Technical!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
I tried to raise the subject of crowded rail tracks a few months ago. No one wanted to discuss it.
I was asking how SSA planned to ship grain out of Cherry Point, when the rails were already filled with coal trains. I also wanted to discuss the fact that much of the grain could be delivered by truck, crowding the freeway through Bellingham to grid lock levels and adding tremendously to the pollution from diesel trucks.
Instead of open discussion, I was shut down and called names by those who preferred to concentrate on the global warming effects of coal.
Yes, they are indeed working on the Eastern route through the county, but that won’t be completed for years and years because BNSF doesn’t own the right of way.
Of course BNSF won’t have to pay for any land or bridges, that is all part of the responsibility of the federal government and Patty Murray’s bill, S 942, would pay for it. Remember, if all those buildings get torn down, BNSF won’t have to deal with the noise abatement or mitigation of any kind for the bad effects on the businesses.
Well, you Bellingham people can always change your focus to the new park in Acme, instead of the Bellingham waterfront.
AFY – Those jobs that were mentioned in the article are not Whatcom County jobs and you know it. The tugs and pilots and barge operators will NOT live in Whatcom County. None of the construction jobs will go to Whatcom County (as is stated in the study that you are touting). It’s all a big lie. Therefore the ancillary job creation won’t occur in Whatcom County, either.
This project is a nightmare for Whatcom County and especially, Ferndale and Birch Bay, which will suffer the most pollution from the open coal piles.
Sorry JG but if I’s has anything to do with it there will be a bunch of local construction jobs, don’t ya know!
This project will be a dream come true for many hard working individuals in our county who are either unemployed or under-employed!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Sorry, AFY, but most of the job numbers are induced employment–generally lower paying retail and service jobs, and not usually unionized, so little to no benefits. Nothing wrong with those jobs theoretically, but this county is already overly dependent on lower end jobs; this project only makes us more so.
If they were building a factory out there, or another Intalco, that would be a differnt animal altogether–very positive for the region and its workforce. In fact, this is shipping the raw materials for those type jobs to China. The pollution from the ships and the trains could threaten our CMAQ compliance, puting our good paying industries such as Intalco and the refineries at some risk of significant new compliance costs, discouraging their expansion locally and discouraging other god employers from landing here.
Au contraire Dan; 2,210 direct (on site) construction jobs most likely will be union and the indirect 3,011 jobs a large portion would/could be local because a lot of what is built off site for this project i.e. conveyors, etc are expensive to ship, bulky, thus making local manufacturers more cost competitive..
And IMHO there are people right now training in our technical school who could/would have jobs once their learning is complete if the GPT is built.
I’s hope environmental issues can be mitigated so as this project will come to Whatcom.
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Too bad, AFY, mon ami.
Maybe it’s time to look into collecting SS benefits.
Good luck finding a doctor who takes Medicare.
On the bright side, this means more time for golf!
Sure he’s a nice enough fellow in cyber-land
but I wouldn’t really call any job a dream come true since each construction job is a temporary gig and the money is the same whether we’re building a Temple or a Tomb.
Even for grunts like us,
a dream job is in the long-term benefits to the community that which we build provides and
believe it or not,
good pay for a crummy plan for a crummy general under a crummy owner for a crummy reason is still a crummy job.
A paycheck alone doesn’t make any worker proud.
Would everyone in Whatcom County with experience building a deep-water 3-berth shipping pier and trestle please raise your hands?
That’s what I thought.
Construction isn’t a project
it’s a method.
You get a big box of Legos and the rest is details.
Like the new and improved rotary dumper…model railroading…by the girl next door.
A deep water 3 pier shipping port…drain down the bathtub before we drown.
http://www.westshore.com/dumpers.html
Been in the 4th Corner long?
“US coal was first shipped through Westshore in 1988. Since that trial shipment from Wyoming and the Powder River Basin…”
20 years later, a hamster awakens?
Help Wanted – One man capable of unloading 10,500 tons of coal per hour. Apply SSA Marine.
Jobs?
So at 48 Million tons per year that’s one guy doing a 12-hour shift.
Mentioning golf, Camille, une fille charmante, get this; as we know Bellingham was a coal mining town, so under our feet are them there mines, we happen to have a golf course built on top of some of those mines and because of that it is a very dry course due to the drainage.
So the moral of the story is not only is coal good for jobs but it’s also good for golf!!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Coming to an airport near you soon;
“Taking a ride on a coal-fuelled plane….
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/taking-a-ride-on-a-coalfuelled-plane-20120508-1yafp.html
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!