Grant will improve sidewalks

Engineers will determine just how far Grand Coulee’s recent $232,656 grant from the Transportation Improvement Board will go for street improvements, public works director Dennis Francis said last week.

The grant should cover improvements to sidewalks on both sides of the street on Federal Avenue from Spokane Way to Seaton Street with ADA ramps on all corners.

Francis said that any improvements on Main Street will have to wait until Gray & Osborne does the engineering work and establish what can be done with the money included in the grant.

Monday Gray & Osborne engineer Mike Meskimen said that the grant should take care of the Federal Avenue part of the project, and also re-do sidewalks on both sides of the street between Federal Avenue and Midway Avenue.

The original TIB grant, for the same amount, was scheduled for sidewalks on Spokane Way, but when the TIB learned that Center School would be closed after this school year, the other project was developed.

Members of the TIB made a rare visit to a community when they came to Grand Coulee recently to assist the city in designing the grant project.

Meskimen said that the work will likely be done sometime in 2015, since it must be engineered and go to bid before work could progress.

The TIB announced last week that $3.7 million has been awarded to communities in Grant and Adams counties and will go toward preservation and reconstruction of key streets within these communities.

The Washington State TIB awarded grants totaling $114.4 million to 103 local communities at its Nov. 22 meeting in Bellevue.

“The TIB delivers over 98% of its revenue directly to local street and sidewalk projects,” noted board member and Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens. “These grant dollars put gas tax dollars to work offering safer streets and sidewalks,” he added.

In addition to Grand Coulee’s grant, Othello received two grants, $1.96 million on a road project and $409,000 for pavement projects; Ephrata received $474,570; George got $109,251; Mattawa received $225,800; and Soap Lake got $259,900.