Elmer City will get $250k "Complete Streets" grant

Elmer City received word this week that it has been awarded a “Complete Streets” grant from the state Department of Transportation’s “Transportation Improvement Board.”

Elmer City had been nominated by an unidentified agency for the $250,000 award, allowing a three-year window for the use of the funds.

Public works Director Jimmer Tillman said he had been hopeful that Elmer City would be selected to receive the grant and that he had already submitted the town’s work plan to TIB and it had been approved. Tillman said that the council will receive the work plan this Thursday.

“It has been a group effort, with several people participating,” Tillman said of the grant application process.

The Washington State Legislature created the “Complete Streets” program as an incentive for cities and counties to adopt a policy to design, operate and maintain their streets while considering all methods of transportation.

Mayor Gail Morin said Tuesday that the town was “really pleased” to get the grant.

The flexible funding program allows designated recipients a window of three years to use the funds.

Successful cities and counties must submit a work plan for the Transportation Improvement Board that include one or more projects to support walking, bicycling, access to transit and/or streetscape aesthetics.

Tillman said he expects the town will receive the grant money within a short time.

Cities and counties are nominated for the “Complete Streets” grants by state agencies or by transportation non-profits with a statewide charter.

Elmer City had been selected earlier for an $82,705 chip-seal grant from the TIB, with funding due in 2018. Tillman said that grant would allow the town to repair roads that have some extreme cracks in them.