That's the question that has to be answered. When the CW shut down, wheat trucks from the Waterville Plateau went down a lightly built county road towards the Tri-Cities grain terminal instead of across U.S. 2 to Coulee City. The road got torn to bits, and Douglas County, with a population of only about 35,000 is looking at a $2 million bill to rebuild 15 miles of highway.
Between Coulee City and Davenport there are only 2 highways that are capable of handling large quantities of loaded wheat trucks, State Hwy 17 between Coulee City and the Tri Cities, and State 21 between Wilbur and I-90. The other connectors are county roads that probably couldn't handle the weight. I know this is one of the questions the state DOT is looking at concerning the CW line. Would a subsity to keep the line open be less then the infrastructure repairs necessary to the highways. Glad I don't have to make that decision.