Three Eastern Washington rail infrastructure and economic development projects have been awarded a total of $32.9 million in funding in the Washington state transportation package that was approved recently by the Legislature.

One of the projects, the $10 million Connell rail interchange improvement project, will modernize a key rail interchange where the Columbia Basin Railroad line intersects a BNSF Railway Co. line that runs between Pasco and Spokane.

The Moses Lake-based Columbia Basin Railroad is a locally owned rail system that operates on 60 miles of railroad line that serves communities in Grant, Adams, and Franklin counties, a press release issued by the railroad says.

The Connell rail interchange was built nearly a century ago, and the interchange is outdated and inefficient, the railroad says.

The funding will help upgrade and improve the interchange to accommodate the substantial growth in rail cargo that flows into and through Connell, the railroad says.

Due to economic growth in the region, the Columbia Basin Railroad line has become one of the busiest short lines in Washington, hauling more than 10,000 carloads of agricultural, industrial, and other freight annually for 60 active shippers that employ nearly 7,000 people in Grant and Adams counties, the company claims.

Other railroad projects receiving funding are a $20.9 million Northern Columbia Basin Railroad project and a $2 million Port of Warden rail infrastructure project.

The larger project aims to expand freight service to the Moses Lake area and to help preserve manufacturing jobs and encourage economic development.

The Warden rail project will increase rail capacity and enhance rail services in Warden, about 30 miles southeast of Connell, by constructing a mile of new rail-storage siding.