The West Coast hasn’t opened a major new container port in decades. A small Oregon harbor wants to change that.
The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay executed a $25 million INFRA grant agreement with the U.S. DOT in June, matched by another $25 million from development partner NorthPoint, to advance the roughly $2.3 billion Pacific Coast Intermodal Port. The $50 million funds environmental review, permitting and preliminary engineering for a new ship-to-rail terminal on the North Spit.
Federal Money Unlocks the Next Phase
The grant matters less for its size than for what it lets the port do next: a full NEPA review and preliminary design, the gate every big infrastructure project clears before construction money shows up. Kansas City-based NorthPoint’s matching check signals private conviction behind a project that’s been talked about for years.
A Ship-to-Rail Gateway
The plan pairs a deepwater marine terminal with a rebuilt short-line rail link to the national network. The pitch is simple: give importers an alternative to the congested ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, and shave time off some inland routes.
The Long Road Ahead
Coos Bay expects about two years of permitting, then roughly three years of construction once funding closes. And it still has to raise $2.3 billion, a heavy lift for a port this size. Land it, and a rural stretch of the Oregon coast joins the container trade for the first time.
Project detail via Railway Age.