Poe tabbed for second Wawawai Road stretch

For the second time in two weeks, Poe Asphalt of Pullman has landed a job to repave a portion of the Wawawai-Pullman Road along upper Union Flat southeast of Pullman.

Monday, the firm was awarded a $342,013 contract to repave over two miles of the road from the Hatley Road north past the Ewartsville intersection to the State Route 194 intersection west of Pullman.

Also bidding were Central Washington Asphalt of Moses Lake at $371,162 and Motley and Motley of Pullman at $372,545. The county estimated the price tag at $404,602.

Last week, Poe beat out those same two firms on a bid to repave just more than five miles of the road from the top of Steptoe Canyon at Smith Road north to the Hatley Road. The bid on that segment of the road was $868,287.

The project was split into two segments to satisfy federal funding requirements, according to Public Works Director Mark Storey.

If the county paid for the paving of the SR 194 intersection with federal funds, it would have needed to perform cultural and archeological surveys.

The first portion of the project will be paid primarily with federal funding made available through the Surface Transportation Improvement Program. The second part will be paid with county dollars.