Bingen's New Underpass Ends Years of Train-Blocked Road Into Port District

Washington state transportation officials and local leaders cut the ribbon Thursday on a new underpass and roundabout in Bingen, marking the functional completion of a $34.3 million project meant to keep freight trains from cutting off the town's only route to its industrial waterfront. The new road, called Juniper Street, now connects SR 14 and Steuben Street with Bingen Point and the Port of Klickitat by passing beneath active BNSF Railway tracks instead of crossing them at grade.

The ribbon-cutting, held August 27, 2026, capped nearly 12 years of planning between WSDOT, BNSF Railway, the City of Bingen, the Port of Klickitat, and Klickitat County, according to Construction Equipment Guide. Talks over how to fix the crossing began around 2015, but construction on the SR 14 Bingen Access Improvements project did not break ground until late 2025. WSDOT says the finished project eliminates the lengthy train delays that had long plagued the small stretch of highway east of town.

A Single Road Once Left Bingen Point Exposed

Before Juniper Street existed, Maple Street — located directly east of the SDS Lumber mill — served as the only way in or out of Bingen Point. That single access point created real safety risks: when trains blocked the crossing, vehicles could be trapped and emergency responders could be shut out entirely. The same report notes a train derailment at the old crossing could have cut off access to Bingen Point altogether, according to Uplift Local.

To solve the problem without disrupting rail traffic, BNSF Railway built a dedicated new railroad bridge about two-tenths of a mile east of Maple Street, allowing crews to excavate the roadway underneath while trains kept running overhead on the active line. The result is a grade-separated crossing designed specifically to stop travelers, freight, and emergency responders from backing up onto SR 14 whenever a train passes through.

Contractor, Cost, and a Community-Chosen Street Name

WSDOT awarded the primary highway construction contract to Kerr Contractors Oregon, LLC in August 2025, with a bid amount of $7,668,351.96 — a piece of the overall $34.3 million project cost that also covers BNSF's rail bridge work. The new underpass road itself carries a name with local roots: Bingen residents voted to call it Juniper Street during the town's 2023 Huckleberry Festival, continuing a local tradition of naming streets after tree species, per the WSDOT Blog. Bingen was founded in 1892 and incorporated in 1924.

The project also delivered a new roundabout at SR 14 and Elm Street, and its centerpiece nods to the region's timber past: a restored historic pond boat, the kind once used to maneuver floating logs at sawmills, now sits at the roundabout's center to commemorate the Columbia River Gorge's timber history.

Why the Fix Mattered for a Small Port Town

The stakes extend beyond convenience for local drivers. The Port of Klickitat operates the 143-acre Bingen Point Business Park along the Columbia River, which includes industrial facilities, commercial land, and a public two-lane boat ramp, all of which depend on reliable highway access. The Port was established in 1945 to promote transportation and economic development across the Gorge.

SR 14 itself is a 181-mile corridor running along the northern bank of the Columbia River, linking rural Klickitat County towns to the broader Vancouver-Portland metro area, and it runs parallel to BNSF's rail lines the entire way through the Gorge. That overlap between highway and rail corridor is precisely what made Bingen's old single-access setup so precarious, and why fixing it required buy-in from a railroad as well as three layers of local and state government.

Bingen remains a small town by any measure — the U.S. Census Bureau put its population at 778 residents in 2020, with estimates climbing to 952 by 2025, across roughly 0.62 square miles. That a community that size secured a 12-year, $34.3 million multi-agency infrastructure fix underscores how much the Port of Klickitat's industrial base weighed in the calculus. Hoodline first covered the project's launch last September, when construction began narrowing travel to single lanes through the work zone.