Rail Line Abandonment and Highway Preservation: A Case Study of Washington State in the United States

Rail line abandonment often, if not always, has some impact on roadway condition and needed investments. This paper examines the issue using a case study of the state of Washington in the United States. Two alternative techniques of determining potential highway impacts are described and applied to a short-line railroad, the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad. The techniques are found to provide similar, dependable results of over $50 million in total pavement costs, depending on the time of rebuilding the roadway.