WSK Commuter Rail Study

Oregon Department of Transportation – Rail Division Oregon Rail Study Appendix I Wilsonville to Salem Commuter Rail Assessment Prepared by: Parsons Brinckerhoff Team Parsons Brinckerhoff Simpson Consulting Sorin Garber Consulting Group Tangent Services Wilbur Smith and Associates April 2010 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 3 WHAT IS COMMUTER RAIL? ................................................................................................... 3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS............................................................................................................ 3 STUDY AREA....................................................................................................................... 4 WES COMMUTER RAIL.......................................................................................................... 6 OTHER PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES IN THE CORRIDOR .................................................................. 6 OUTREACH WITH RAILROADS: PNWR AND BNSF .................................................................. 7 PORTLAND & WESTERN RAILROAD........................................................................................... 7 BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY ..................................................................................................... 7 ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................................... 8 DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................................................... 8 FREIGHT RAIL OPERATIONS ................................................................................................. 10 LAND USE CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................................ 10 TRACK RIGHT OF WAY AND CONDITIONS................................................................................. 18 TRANSIT FACILITIES AND SERVICES ....................................................................................... 22 ROUTE CONSIDERATIONS IN NORTH AND CENTRAL SALEM........................................................... 26 OPERATING PLAN ASSUMPTIONS ....................................................................................... 28 ALIGNMENT ...................................................................................................................... 28 OPERATING SCHEDULE........................................................................................................ 28 TRAIN EQUIPMENT ............................................................................................................. 29 STATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 30 MAINTENANCE FACILITY OPTIONS ......................................................................................... 41 DATA ANALYSIS................................................................................................................. 42 RIDERSHIP FORECASTING .................................................................................................... 42 POLICY ASSESSMENT .......................................................................................................... 49 CONCEPTUAL CAPITAL COST ESTIMATES.................................................................................. 50 CONCEPTUAL OPERATING COST ESTIMATES ............................................................................. 53 RESULTS OF THE FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT ...................................................................... 53 COST AND USER BENEFIT ANALYSIS ....................................................................................... 53 FINANCING PLAN ............................................................................................................... 54 GOVERNANCE ISSUES.......................................................................................................... 55 SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS.............................................................................................. 57 APPENDIX A: LESSONS LEARNED FROM WES......................................................................59 APPENDIX B: OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS............................................................................72 i APPENDIX C: RIDERSHIP FORECASTING.............................................................................83 APPENDIX D: COST ESTIMATES..........................................................................................93 List of Tables Table 1: Operating Scenarios .............................................................................................. 29 Table 2: Daily Ridership Projections by Scenario .................................................................. 46 Table 3: Ridership Projections Comparison .......................................................................... 47 Table 4: Projected Wilsonville-to-Salem Extension Ridership vs. Current Ridership Data ......... 48 Table 5: Conceptual Capital Cost Estimate ........................................................................... 52 Table 6: Conceptual Annual Operating Cost Estimates .......................................................... 53 List of Figures Figure 1: Study Area Including Existing WES Alignment.......................................................... 5 Figure 2: Industrial Areas in the Corridor ............................................................................. 12 Figure 3. Existing Land Use at Wilsonville Station Area ......................................................... 13 Figure 4. Existing Land Use at the Possible Woodburn Station Area....................................... 14 Figure 5. Existing Land Use at the Possible Keizer Station Area ............................................. 15 Figure 6. Existing Land Use at the Possible North Salem Station Area .................................... 16 Figure 7. Existing Land Use at the Possible Central Salem Station Area.................................. 17 Figure 8: Existing Conditions and Identified Track and Operations Issues (North Portion) ....... 20 Figure 9: Existing Conditions and Identified Track and Operations Issues (South Portion)....... 21 Figure 10: SMART Central at Wilsonville Station ................................................................... 23 Figure 11: Cherriots Route Map (Keizer, north and central Salem)......................................... 25 Figure 12: Front Street NE & Norway Street NE ................................................................... 26 Figure 13: North Salem ...................................................................................................... 27 Figure 14: Maple St. NE at Spruce St. NE............................................................................. 27 Figure 15: Salem Riverfront Downtown Area........................................................................ 28 Figure 16: Station Locations and Passing Siding Options....................................................... 32 Figure 17: Possible Woodburn Station Area.......................................................................... 35 Figure 18: Woodburn Comprehensive Plan in Possible Station Area ....................................... 36 Figure 19: Possible Keizer Station Area................................................................................ 37 Figure 20. Possible Salem Station Options............................................................................ 39 Figure 21. Photos of the Alignment in Salem (Photos locations noted on Figure 20) ............... 40 Figure 22: Existing WES Maintenance Facility....................................................................... 41 Figure 23: Peak Period Volumes on I-5 vs. Capacity ............................................................. 45 ii Executive Summary Commuter rail or “interurban” rail service began declining in the U.S. with the advent of the automobile before World War II. By the end of the 1950s, commuter rail no longer existed in Oregon. Through much of the past 20 years there have been varying levels of interest in reinstituting commuter rail service in Oregon, resulting in a number of commuter rail studies initiated during that timeframe. In the mid 1990s, Washington County and the greater Portland metropolitan area began seriously considering a commuter rail service in suburban Washington County, which culminated with the opening of the Beaverton-to-Wilsonville Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail line in early 2009 over trackage operated by Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR). Currently, 70,000 to 90,000 passenger vehicles (approximately 90,000 to 120,000 person trips) travel each weekday on Interstate-5 (I-5) between the southern Portland metropolitan area (Wilsonville) and Salem with peak travel during the morning and evening commute periods. By 2030 these levels are expected to nearly double to 130,000 to 160,000 passenger vehicles per day (approximately 150,000 to 200,000 person trips). Commuter rail service provides an opportunity to potentially divert some of these vehicle trips from the state highway system to a parallel rail line, but also faces challenges. In addition to the routine

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