The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay has secured $50 million to advance preliminary design, permitting and environmental review for a proposed ship-to-rail container terminal on the state’s southern coast.
The grant, awarded through the DOT’s (INFRA) program, combined with the private match, provides $50 million to move the project into preliminary design, including permitting and environmental review.
The funding includes a $25 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a $25 million private match. The money will support early work on the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port (PCIP), a 175-acre terminal planned for the North Spit Peninsula that could create a direct connection between ocean freight and the national rail network.
The PCIP project is planned as the first fully ship-to-rail container gateway on the West Coast, according to local reporting. The 175-acre facility on the North Spit Peninsula is designed to allow containers arriving by ship through the Coos Bay Harbor to move directly onto trains, eliminating the need for an additional transfer to trucks before reaching rail.
The planned terminal would include ship berths, container handling areas and rail connections designed to create a direct link between ocean freight and the national rail network. The facility is expected to have the capacity to handle up to 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units annually. New electrical facilities also would allow ships to connect to shore power while docked, reducing the need to run diesel engines.
Before construction can begin, the project will require additional studies and approvals, including plans to deepen and widen the navigation channel to allow larger vessels to safely reach the terminal. Rail improvements in surrounding counties also will be needed to accommodate the expected increase in freight and passenger traffic associated with the project.
Supporters say the project could create a new West Coast gateway for moving goods between ocean shipping routes and inland rail networks, potentially changing how freight moves through the region and reducing reliance on truck transfers.
Photo by Oregon State Archives, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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