North Dakota’s oil-transporting infrastructure is getting a welcome boost.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last weekend that to keep up with booming rail shipments of crude oil in the Bakken, a Minnesota company is spending $50 million to expand a loading facility in New Town, N.D.  With the upgrade, the  facility will be able to rapidly load trains with up to 120 tank cars.

Dakota Plains Holdings Company Inc. of Minnesota is undertaking the project with a partner, Petroleum Transport Solutions of Florida.

To read the Star Tribune’s story about the project, click HERE.

Because pipeline capacity is limited, the majority of oil produced in the Bakken is moved by rail.  Dakota Plains’ terminal is linked to the Canadian Pacific Railway.

New Town is in Mountrail County, in northwestern North Dakota.  It is the largest community on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

Investments in the transportation infrastructure in the oil-producing region of western North Dakota are a good sign.  They are evidence that businesses and,  in the case of roads, taxpayers see long-term value that justify improvements.