Sealing projects set

Washington State Department of Transportation announced Monday it will chip seal almost 25 miles of state highway in western Whitman County next year with funds left over from projects that cost less than estimated.

Work will be done in the spring to chip seal State Route 26 from Dusty to Colfax and eight miles of State Route 127, the Central Ferry Highway, from Dusty south to the Church Hill Road intersection.

Cost of the SR 26 work is estimated at $2.2 million. The SR 127 chip seal is expected to cost $700,000.

DOT officials in a news release Monday said contracts for this year, awarded in a hungry bid environment, saved the state $112 million budgeted for this year’s construction program.

That extra money will be used to fund 21 additional highway and ferry projects.