Airport Road rebuild tops 2011 road plan

Complete reconstruction of the Colfax Airport Road tops the $4.5 million list of road projects to be done by Whitman County’s Public Works Department next year.

County commissioners last week finalized the 2011 construction plan put forth by Public Works Director Mark Storey.

The county plans to completely re-pave and widen the Airport Road from the Almota Road junction south of Colfax to the Highway 26 junction at Mockonema.

The project is expected to cost $3,380,000. Washington State’s County Road Administrative Board granted the county $2.93 million over the last two years to help fund the project. County and federal funds will pay the difference.

Storey said replacement of a bridge on Big Alkali road south of Dusty will be the other major project for the county next year with a $710,000 price tag. Most of that cost will be paid out of federal bridge replacement funds.

The bridge is listed as Neel bridge in the county directory, but Storey said the correct spelling for the bridge should be Kneale, after the Kneale family.

Several future bridge replacement jobs will be engineered next year for construction in 2012.

Also listed for 2011 is $290,000 the county will use to replace small bridges that are in dire need of repair. The county’s bridge crew is currently inspecting small bridges to determine which should be replaced. Those bridge projects will be funded by the county.

The county will also spend $42,500 to put fresh paint and signs on throughout the county. About $5,000 of that cost will be paid by the county, with the remainder coming from state funds.

Much of the remaining spending in 2011 construction plan will be for engineering and construction costs for 2012 projects and for projects being finished in 2010.