Railroad projects

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad has been owned by Clark County since 1987. The railroad is currently operated by the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR) and serves several existing customers in the greater Vancouver Portland metro area. The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad's history dates back to the late 19th century. Click here to learn more about the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad’s history.

As the railroad's owner, the county is legally required to maintain the infrastructure to meet regulations. The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad bridges repair project addressed deficiencies of six timber bridges along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad.

In 2025, the railroad roadbed rehabilitation project will improve safety and perform required maintenance on more than one mile of track on the county-owned railroad, from milepost 23.16 to milepost 24.3. The project also includes tree trimming and clearing brush and vegetation. Construction is scheduled to begin in April/May and is weather-dependent. Impacts to the public will be minimal. During construction, drivers may experience short delays at the railroad crossing at Lucia Falls Road when construction equipment accesses the rail at the crossing or an excursion train passes. The automatic lights and crossing arm will be disabled during construction, and flaggers will stop traffic for the train to pass.

Maintenance work on the railroad this spring also includes painting bridge bearings on the railroad bridge crossing Northeast Highway 99 just south of Northeast 63rd Street. Lane closures on Highway 99 will be required during work; at least one lane in each direction will be open at all times. More information will be posted on the project webpage as it becomes available.

Page Contents (click to jump to a section)

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Bridges Repair - About the project
Roadbed Rehabilitation - About the project
Project timeline
Funding

About the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Bridges Repair project

This project aims to address deficiencies of six timber bridges along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad. The six bridges are bridge 6 (Curtin Creek), bridge 12 (Salmon Creek), bridge 18 (unnamed creek) near Northeast 259th Street, bridge 20 (Basket Creek), bridge 23 (East Fork Lewis River), and bridge 25 (Yacolt Creek).

Improvements will focus on replacement of damaged, decaying or missing timber elements including piles, posts, stringers, braces and ties. The project will also replace deficient abutment walls, sloughing approach ballast and missing or loose bolts and other connection hardware.

Several of the bridges are closed to rail traffic due to their condition.

Click here to view the project location.

This project, combined with the railroad roadbed rehabilitation work between the bridges, are part of a larger effort to maintain and repair the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad north of Battle Ground in Clark County.

About the Roadbed Rehabilitation project

The Railroad Roadbed Rehabilitation project will improve safety and perform required maintenance on over one mile of track on the county-owned railroad, from mile post 23.16 to mile post 24.3. The project will also include tree trimmings, brush clearing, and other vegetation clearing from mile post 14.12 to mile post 23.16.

This project, combined with the bridge repair work, is part of an effort to maintain and repair the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad north of Battle Ground in Clark County.

Project timeline

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Bridges Repair

Design: winter 2024
Construction: summer 2024

This project has reached substantial completion.

Roadbed Rehabilitation

Design: fall 2024
Construction: spring 2025

Funding

Both projects are funded through grants received from the Washington State Department of Transportation, Rail, Freight and Ports Division. The grant total for both projects is $3,226,476.

Project update

Starting Sept. 30, work on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad bridge in the Gordy Jolma Family Natural Area may impact visitors using the trail near the bridge. The contractor will temporarily block the trail at times when work is happening above or close to the trail. Visitors will be allowed to pass through the trail after slight delays. Learn more.