As the Port of Benton plans for the needs of incoming industries, it’s strengthening its infrastructure to be ready to “meet the moment.”

“We remain focused on driving business growth and really leveraging our regional assets and doing what we can to help support fostering trade and tourism,” said Diahann Howard, the port’s executive director.

The port covers 2,756 acres, or two-thirds of Benton County, including north Richland, Benton City and Prosser.

The port has an approved 2025 operating budget of $9.7 million, non-operating budget of $12.8 million, capital budget of $12.9 million and will collect $3.2 million in 2025 for property taxes.

Putting down tracks

In the past year, the port has wrapped up its work on five rail crossings across Highway 240 and 3,400 new rail ties, a project that helped reset the rail’s lifespan another 30 or 40 years and achieved Class 1 track status, which means there’s no restrictions on the number or type of rail cars that can use the track.

Now, the port is ready to take the work a step farther.

A $9.56 million federal rail grant, announced in January 2025, plus $2.4 million in matching funds from the port, will go toward installing heavier rail on the line. It will help support bigger trains and will be particularly focused on the north end of the port’s rail line, where trains turn around.

The tracks will also see improvements such as an additional 9,000 rail ties and more ballast. There are 16 miles of track, with 11 miles of mainline track, Howard said, and 4 miles of 75-plus-year-old track will be replaced.

Altogether, the work will enable faster speeds as trains cross through intersections so it can reach Class 2 track status. The recently completed work at the Highway 240 crossings enabled train speeds of up to 10 miles per hour, Howard said, while the new project will bring train speeds up to 25 miles per hour, reducing vehicle delays at crossings from 15 minutes to as little as 4 minutes.

“Our port is already serving 1.3 million tons of cargo … and now this just opens up more opportunities to support businesses in industry, big and small, and job creation for the community,” she said.

Construction is scheduled to start around late summer or early fall of 2026. 

The 2579 Stevens Drive building is a key part of the intermodal facility that the Port of Benton is working to get up and running following a land exchange with the city of Richland.

| Courtesy Port of Benton

Intermodal work

The port’s other rail-related plans revolve around its planned intermodal facility. 

The port began planning last year for renovation work on the building at 2579 Stevens Drive, Richland, a 90,000-square-foot space that will support intermodal users. 

The port successfully secured a $2.4 million loan from the Community Economic Revitalization Board, as well as $1.7 million in funds from Benton County’s Rural County Capital Fund, for the project. The port will supply $1.5 million.

Currently, an assessment is in progress and engineering is taking place to advance the project. 

The original plan was to renovate the office space in the existing building, but since it’s proved to be in such a bad state, the port is evaluating a second option: building a new office space separate from the main building. 

That process would likely be cheaper and more efficient, and it would create a larger space with room for a second tenant, Howard said. The current office space is around 7,500 square feet, while a new building could be as large as 12,500 square feet. 

The old office area would ultimately be demolished if the port goes with that plan, and additional funds would go toward making the space more multi-tenant and providing common space. 

That project likely will be out to bid in early 2026, with construction starting in the second quarter, Howard said. 

Further in the future is work on the intermodal yard. 

The port completed a land exchange with the city of Richland in 2025, which secured 243 acres from the city adjacent to the port’s existing 143-acre mining site and the nearby 2579 building. The new acreage includes a loop track, and the port plans to invest in the property to help get an intermodal facility up and running. 

So far, the port has gotten $240,000 from the state for planning and is looking to receive $2.5 million in federal funding after asking for $5 million, but that amount is currently pending. 

The intermodal yard will allow containers to move securely between trains and trucks. 

“We see (the entire region) around the intermodal facility ... growing as a logistics hub,” Howard said. 

She said some initial engineering is taking place on layouts, and the port is currently in conversation with those who responded to a request for proposals for an intermodal operator. The port hopes to identify an operator early in 2026. 

The Port of Benton’s building at 2579 Stevens Drive in north Richland is the focus of upcoming renovation work.

| Courtesy Port of Benton

Interest in Prosser 

The port recently received $3 million from the Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program for pavement repairs at the Prosser Airport. 

The work was scheduled to take place last year, when cracks in the asphalt at the Richland Airport were being addressed, but was delayed since funding wasn’t available. The port had to use its own funding to prevent the runway from further deteriorating. 

The FAA funds also will enable the port to upgrade the airport’s lighting system to LED lights. Work on the project will begin around May of 2026.  

With that project finalized, Howard said the port will have some hangar spaces available for new development and a potential aviation-related tenant coming in at the airport.

And the airport isn’t the port’s only Prosser property – the port has been seeing an increase of interest in Vintners Village. 

While they can’t announce anything new just yet, “it’s really exciting to see things pick up,” Howard said. “We’ve waited a long time for the Vintners project. We wanted private development to go ahead first, which it has.”

She said the port is thinking about providing an area for food trucks near Vintners Village.

Meanwhile, the port is still in conversations with a private entity about operating the Walter Clore Center in Prosser. 

“We’re really excited about a potential public-private partnership in that building again that will honor the spirit and intent of the original board,” Howard said. 

The center is focused on agribusiness, and sparkling wine company Tirriddis set up shop in the pavilion building on site in 2024. 

The port currently holds about 30 industry events at the Clore Center and plans to invest in the audiovisual system there.  

Waterfront, other projects 

After receiving a $2.7 million electrification grant from the state Department of Transportation last year, the port is actively working to install lighting and shore power at its barge complex in north Richland. 

Howard said that planning is being completed in coordination with industry and the U.S. Navy. 

Port commissioners are currently discussing the initial phase of waterfront planning along the port’s shoreline. 

The port also has made other progress during the past year, including acquiring the building at 3110 Port of Benton Blvd. in Richland and seeing Avalanche Energy move into port-owned space. 

The port is planning to add gates at the entrance of Crow Butte Park, as well as an additional kiosk. It also continues to work with the VERTical innovation cluster, which will convene this fall and plans to have events in 2026.