Colfax council approves six-year street/road plan

Future work on Cedar Street and the North Palouse River Road are included in the street project plans in the Colfax six-year street program. The listing of projects was presented to the city council at the June 17 meeting and approved at the July 1 council session.

The State Department of Transportation each year requires towns to outline a six-year street plan. Whether or not projects listed on the plan become a reality is generally determined by funding.

The Colfax plan includes projects listed under ADA projects, Urban Arterial Projects and local street projects.

Topping the list of Colfax projects for this year is construction of sidewalks along Third and Clay streets. That project had been funded by the state’s Transportation Improvement Board and has been scheduled to be finished this summer.

Extension of the sidewalk from Clay Street up to Park Street is listed for next year. Funding from TIB was not granted for that part of the project this year.

Also on the list of projects for this year is a concrete grind for the upper sections of Fairview Street. The upper section of Fairview at one time had been included in a paving project, but it was cut out of the job because funds granted under a Recovery Act program did not cover the whole project.

City Administrator Carl Thompson said the grant application remains in the works for Fairview, and the city hopes to be able to get the job done when asphalt paving gets underway for the county’s Airport Road project later this summer.

Among projects listed for 2015 are a paving overlay on Cedar Street along McDonald Park and out the North Palouse River Road for a mile. Thompson said the city one day would like to extend paving out the North Palouse River Road, but that would have to be done with grant funds. Overall development of the area, which has been annexed as a rural residential road, could be a factor in landing TIB funds for the project.

Local projects charted for this year include seal coating for Valleyview. Work on Oak Street from 8th to 11th on the North Flat has been slated for 2014.