Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The City of Palouse was set to open bids March 29 for its long-awaited West Whitman Street project.
The deadline was 4 p.m. Wednesday.
“On deals like this, I’ve learned, don’t get nervous until the last day,” said Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove.
Washington State Department of Transportation completed its railroad engineering in February and approved the overall street revitalization plan to include replacing a 550-foot section of street and railroad tracks – with a new drainage system – as well as sidewalks, curb, gutter and lighting.
A bid deadline of March 29 was set for the estimated $575,000-$650,000 worth of work.
The Palouse City Council voted Feb. 14 to approve an additional $20,000 expenditure to simultaneously replace old water pipes on West Whitman.
A total of 415 feet of old asbestos cement pipes will be replaced on the north side of the road.
The pipes money will come from the city’s water capital improvements account.
Overall, the long-simmering West Whitman Street project extends the 2008 East Whitman Street revitalization work.
In 2015, the Washington state legislature pledged $280,000 for West Whitman in Palouse as part of a $16 billion transportation package. The money will pay for the railroad work to be done at the same time as the street work.
In November 2015, the project was approved for a grant through the Transportation Improvement Board. The $370,500 approval followed the denial of Palouse’s application in 2014.
WSDOT had already pledged $30,000 to the proposed project.
All told, the TIB grant, state transportation money, DOT money and $42,000 from the City of Palouse’s arterial streets fund is expected to cover all costs.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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