The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay took another significant step forward on April 27 when the U.S. Maritime Administration awarded an $11.25 million Port Infrastructure Development Program grant to advance the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port — a proposed 175-acre ship-to-rail container terminal on the North Spit of Coos Bay that, when complete, would be the first fully integrated ship-to-rail port facility on the entire U.S. West Coast. The grant is the first construction-focused federal award for the project and will fund critical rail infrastructure improvements, including a triplicate track and run-around section of track that will connect the future terminal to the port’s 134-mile Coos Bay Rail Line — the artery that will carry containers inland to interchange with Union Pacific in Eugene, Oregon.

The PCIP grant adds to a growing stack of public investment in one of Oregon’s most ambitious freight infrastructure projects in decades. The Port of Coos Bay previously secured a $25 million federal INFRA grant, a $29.8 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant in 2024, and a landmark $100 million commitment from the Oregon Legislature in 2025. The April 27 MARAD award brings total federal and state funding to well over $165 million, with project developers continuing to pursue the remaining capital needed to fully construct and equip the terminal. Port Commission President Kyle Stevens called the award a clear signal that infrastructure in rural Oregon carries national weight, saying the South Coast “has a real role to play in the state’s economic future.”

When fully operational, the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port is designed to offer shippers a direct, rail-connected alternative to the congested container corridors of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Seattle — with containers arriving by deep-draft vessel, transferred immediately to rail, and dispatched via the Coos Bay Rail Line to Eugene and beyond. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who helped preserve the Coos Bay Rail Line earlier in his career, called the project transformational for a South Coast community still rebuilding its economic identity after decades of timber industry decline. The terminal’s potential impact extends well beyond Coos Bay — adding West Coast port capacity at a moment when national supply chain resilience and freight diversification are top-of-mind priorities for shippers, policymakers, and the U.S. maritime industry alike.