WSDOT to fix train tracks before mudslide season begins
Aug 24, 2015, 12:33 PM | Updated: Aug 25, 2015, 8:49 am
Once we get heavy rains for about two weeks, I go on mudslide watch. With each slide, train passenger service is forced to shut-down for 48 hours. Now the state is putting together a solution. (AP)
(AP)
It’s like clockwork. Once we get heavy rains for about two weeks, rail commuters go on mudslide watch.
The first slide to close train tracks between Everett and Seattle last year was around Thanksgiving. There have been more than 200 landslides that have blocked the tracks in the last decade.
Each time, passenger service is forced to shut down for 48 hours, forcing commuters and Amtrak passengers onto buses to make their trips.
The Washington State Department of Transportation has finally had enough. A fix could be on the way, and in turn, improvements to Sounder and Amtrak service between Everett and Seattle.
“We want more consistent Amtrak Cascade passenger service through that area, so we are doing some projects to limit the slides in the most slide-prone areas,” said David Smelser, Washington’s high-speed rail program manager.
Smelser said that six areas that experience the most frequent slides are now being addressed.
“What we can do are things to reduce water on the slopes, reduce stormwater that gets to the slopes, and put catch walls at the bottom to catch the slides,” Smelser said. “We can do things to detect slides early.”
The walls at the bottom of slide-prone areas, which are usually buried in mud, will include a new design to allow workers to clear them out.
“We redesigned the walls, working with BNSF, and now have walls going in that they can actually clean out behind with their own track equipment,” Smelser said.
Smelser notes similar fixes have been successful in the past.
“Two projects were completed in 2014 and we have not had any slide activity since that point at those two locations,” he said.
All six slide-prone locations should be fixed by October, before the heavy rains usually hit.
WSDOT is getting the $16 million for these projects in federal grant money and it’s working with BNSF and homeowners on the bluffs above.
“They’ve waived the fees — some of the fees — for a connection to their stormwater system,” Smelser said. “So if a homeowner wants to connect their stormwater down to the BNSF system and pipe it down the slope, BNSF will work with them on that.”
The next public meeting for homeowners to learn more about the potential connection is Sept. 16.
