The Jefferson County Commission agreed to fund its share of a feasibility study for the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA), after a brief conversation with Whitehall Mayor and Jefferson County representative for the BSPRA, Mary Hensleigh at the March 2 Commission meeting.
The BSPRA, which was formed last year, is working on restoring passenger rail service to southern Montana, connecting some of the state’s largest cities using a Montana state statute that allows for the creation of a passenger rail authority jointly by two or more counties that could then oversee the governance of the project.
Jefferson County is one of 12 counties participating in the BSPRA and was asked to fund $5,000 of the feasibility study which will cost, in total, $65,000. The 12 counties include Sanders, Missoula, Butte-Silver Bow, Broadwater, Gallatin, Park, Carbon, Big Horn, Prairie, Dawson and Wibaux.
The feasibility study, as described by Commissioner Cory Kirsch, “will give the rail board a broad look at the cost and benefit of rail service to each county involved.”
Missoula Commissioner and BSPRA President David Strohmaier previously said that the counties invited to be involved in the project were either located on or near a rail route that ceased operation in 1979– North Coast Hiawatha.
This week, the Lewis and Clark County Commission plans to hold a public hearing about joining the Authority.
Clancy resident Bob Marks, who was present at the March 2 Commission meeting, asked, “What is in it for Jefferson County?”
“The benefit would be rail service much closer than Shelby,” Hensleigh responded. The distance from Shelby from Whitehall is about 256 miles along I-15.
“I think we agreed to help fund the study because even if the rail doesn’t directly service the county it would indirectly benefit us by providing service to Butte and/or Helena,” said Kirsch.
“A proposal from Whitehall to Butte could happen, but it is the most expensive option,” said Hensleigh.
The expense would come from the challenge of rail service going over Homestake pass, she said.
“Jefferson County would be a high cost due to the need for major infrastructure improvements to service directly through the county (Butte to Whitehall),” said Kirsch.
Restoring passenger rails service would likely use the line that travels through Helena since the line east of Butte over Homestake Pass has been out of service for decades, according to the BSPRA website.
Currently, the proposed line would run from Bozeman to Helena, then to Missoula.
According to Stromaier, Butte was also included because of a now-defunct route that ran from Butte to Salt Lake City. The BSPRA site states that options are open for investigating the feasibility of reestablishing this connection, as well as a connection to Denver.
Meetings of the BPRSA are open to the public and conducted via Microsoft Teams on the second Wednesday of every month. Links for the virtual meetings can be found on its website.
