Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Section of Almota Road between Klaus and Upper to remain closed until July
COLFAX — A portion of Almota Road closed Tuesday, May 30, to start the new Public Works Reconstruction Project.
“It was an old tired, narrowed road. We applied for funding, and now we have funding,” said Public Works Director Mark Storey. “Now it will be a wider and safer road with no restrictions. It was one of those roads we had to close down every winter and spring.”
Almota Road will close between Klaus Rd and Upper Rd; this portion will remain closed until July.
“They basically have to tear up the road,” Storey said.
The road will remain closed to incoming traffic but open for residents.
“The official closer is through the end of July. We were hoping to have it open for harvest,” added Storey. “Two months closer is a long time and a lot of time to rebuild the road. There will be delays and flaggers.”
Public Works has, however, begun its design for another reconstruction project on Hume Rd, north of Colfax.
Mark Storey reports that the last project on Hume Road was roughly a decade ago and reconstructed nine miles of the roadway.
“Now we are working on the northern 3 miles of Hume. It’ll take months to do that one, and there will probably be road closures,” reports Storey.
The reconstruction project on Hume is expected to begin in about a year or two. Following the Hume reconstruction, Public Works projects the next project to be the roadway reconstruction of Pullman Airport Road.
“We have about 3.8 million in funding. That project is about 3-4 years away,” said Storey.
Storey asks that the traveling public maintain awareness on the roadway, drive safely, and keep in mind that workers are present in construction zones.
“We just want everyone to go home every night,” he said.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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