8-17-2018

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The City of Bellingham won’t be buying a stretch of trail connecting Orchard Place and Roeder Avenue after the BNSF Railway Company decided to terminate the pending purchase.

The city says it has spent a decade trying to buy the abandoned rail line and last April the City Council approved spending nearly $262,000 from the Greenway funds to purchase it.

In a letter sent last week, the Vice President of Corporate Real Estate at BNSF told the city it was canceling the purchase and returning all funds and fees associated with it.

Preliminary design work will be shelved and the city will pull their grant application to the Recreation and Conservation Office.