MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Shippers such as lumber mills in Southern Oregon are seeking millions in government grants to improve railroad tunnels and increase freight capacity in a region that state officials say is heavily dependent on trucks and planes.
The Medford Mail Tribune (http://bit.ly/wojcG0 ) reports one project would provide $4 million in state money to raise the heights on four tunnels near Glendale, just north of the Josephine-Douglas county line.
That would permit taller, high-capacity box cars. Shippers expect a decision in late summer or early fall.
The other would use $10 million in federal money to pay for most of a $12.5 million project to improve tunnels on the tracks connecting the Rogue Valley and Northern California. A decision on that grant is expected in the summer.
