Airport Road rebuild slated for fall

The $3.5 million project to rebuild Colfax Airport Road will indeed begin this year, Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey reported Monday.

After a lengthy effort to acquire the right-of-way for the project, the county finally secured all its necessary property last week, Storey said.

The project will widen the road, add shoulders, open up some of the road’s tight curves and better angle its slopes.

Colfax Airport Road, a major bypass thoroughfare for WSU traffic off Highway 26, was originally slated to be rebuilt last year, but an owner of land on the north side of the road refused to sell the county right-of-way. Those negotiations finished last week.

Storey said the engineered construction plan will be submitted this week to the state Department of Transportation for review. An okay from DOT would allow the state to release federal funding committed to the project.

The county will likely put out a bid call next month, with construction to begin this fall. Storey said this year’s work will consist of widening the road and laying a substructure.

Pavement will follow next spring. Storey pointed out the recently rebuilt portions of Almota Road were built in the same timeline, and having the substructure settle over the winter created a smoother surface when pavement was laid.

Colfax Airport Road has become a major thoroughfare over the past several years as Washington State University students and game day fans use it as a southern bypass of Colfax on their way from Highway 26 to Pullman.

Washington State’s County Road Administrative Board has granted the county $2.93 million to help fund the project. County and federal funds will pay the difference.