Long-awaited Whitman Avenue construction to start next week

Rosalia is set to be the next Whitman County town with construction cones and signs going up this season. The long-awaited Whitman Avenue construction project is set to start Monday.

“They’re mobilizing on the 14th, and they may start bringing stuff in on Friday so they can get started Monday,” said Mayor Nanette Konishi.

Sandry Construction of Spokane has been contracted for the work.

The project is set to take place on Whitman Avenue between Eighth Street and the south city limit. It includes removing existing concrete panels from the road which was first constructed in 1931, as well as replacing those panels with new base rock and a five-inch thick asphalt pavement surface.

“It’s part of the upgrade for the whole road that’s been in need for a long time,” said Konishi.

The project also includes street widening in some places, as well as curbs and gutters for select stretches. Additionally, it will also include some landscaping and stormwater improvements.

This project was originally slated for construction last summer, but it needed to be reworked before it could actually begin. That pushed it to this summer, and it had been planned to begin in July. Delays were necessary because of spring weather.

“With the really wet spring, we had to put the construction back to an extent, so here we are,” said Konishi.

Engineers for the project previously told the Gazette the project would need to start late enough in the summer to allow the soil underneath the existing roadway to dry out before it started.

The hope had also been to not have the project interfere with harvest operations or the start of the school year, but the delay now means it will. Konishi said the crews are working to make traffic restrictions minimal.

“It’s really just 10 days to two weeks that the entire road will be closed up,” she said. “It’s a matter of getting through that couple of weeks.”

When Whitman Avenue is closed down, it will be closed between Eighth Street and the town limits, with detours set up from the south entrance and exit using Josephine Avenue. That closure is expected from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1.

Whitman Avenue will be open to one-way traffic after that, and harvest trucks will be allowed on the road at that point. During the closure, harvest trucks should use the north entrance and exit to town. Konishi said she has been working with PNW to address safety concerns as well as signage and reduced speed limits during this period.

“The word is out about as well as you can make it,” she said.

The project is expected to take about 35 working days to complete, and it is being funded largely by a Transportation Improvement Board grant.

A full detour map can be found at http://www.townofrosalia.net.