Railroad Loop Proposed on Everett's Smith Island

HeraldNet.com

A group of businesses including Cedar Grove Composting are proposing to build a short line rail loop on Everett's Smith Island.

The plan submitted to the city of Everett calls for turning part of the island into a 61-acre railroad terminal with a 1.8 mile-long loop track connected to the BNSF mainline.

The terminal, a $7 million to $8 million project, will be overseen by an entity called Smith Island Terminal LLC, which is a partnership between Cedar Grove, Concrete Nor'west, Northwest Construction Inc. and other local property owners.

Freight trains could pull off the main line and onto the loop track, load up with compost, then head to a switching yard such as BNSF Railway Co.'s Delta Yard in northeast Everett. There, they could tie up to longer trains heading east over the mountains, where there is a ready market for compost in Washington's burgeoning wine industry.

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