St. Lawrence County railroad upgrade to create jobs

OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – Upgrades to a stretch of railroad in St. Lawrence County could help cut shipping costs.

Over the past 15 years, Steve Lawrence, the executive director of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority, or the OBPA, has been planning on replacing 14 miles of rail between Lisbon and Norwood.

“It’s quite an upgrade,” he said.

Last week, the OBPA received an $11.7 million grant to support upgrading the railroad. Lawrence says it will increase the weight capacity from 263,000 pounds to 286,000 pounds per train car.

“You’ll be more efficient that way, but also you can handle larger rail cars daily,” he said.

With the railroad upgrades, Lawrence believes it will cut the travel time in half, making it more efficient to ship goods which, in turn, could lower shipping costs. That could help more than just the OBPA because some municipalities rely on the stretch of railroad as well.

“We are kind of the main user of that rail line, but there are others in between Ogdensburg and Norwood that do use it,” said Lawrence.

Some of the main goods that the railroad exports are grain, wind components, and steel.

Lawrence says the upgrades would create dozens of jobs.

“Somewhere between 60 and 80 construction jobs that will come with this project. Jobs are always important in the North Country,” he said.

The project is expected to break ground later next year.

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