A Dec. 15 ribbon-cutting event, seen in the first photo, celebrated the completion of the $35.5 million, 64-acre Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center in Millersburg.
The truck-to-rail facility, which is expected to help farmers, businesses and other shippers by reducing their costs and increasing reliability of service. Instead of trucking products all the way from the valley to ports in Portland, Tacoma and Seattle, those products will be transferred to rail at the new facility.
The center is also expected to reduce congestion on Interstate 5.
The MVIC was one of the projects selected for funding in the 2017 Connect Oregon program, a state program focused on non-highway investments that create options for transportation, support the local economy and bring other benefi ts to the state. Linn County also provided substantial financial support to complete the project, located on the former site of the Georgia Pacific paper mill.
Speakers at the event included Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Bob Van Brocklin, Union Pacific’s Aaron Hunt, ConGlobal CEO Brandt Ring and others.
(In the second photo, Julie Brown speaks at the grand opening of the as Gov. Kate Brown, left, and Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist chuckle during her remarks. )