By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
Thanks to some extra funding left over from motor vehicle fuel tax collections, the Washington state Transportation Improvement Board awarded a fuel tax grant to the city of Medical Lake that will pay for the majority of a two-inch street overlay project this summer.
The city was one of 18 Washington cities to receive a grant from TIB, according to a distribution agreement issued to the city, signed on May 23. The street selected for overlay is Hallett, specifically three blocks between Lake and Campbell streets.
The city submitted an application for the grant last April, and the project award for $75,000 will require about a $10,000 contribution from the city, City Administrator Doug Ross said. The city's been fortunate this year in acquiring extra grant funding to fix its larger streets. In April the city received from Spokane Transit Authority a $30,000 grant to fund a one-block overlay to a section of Legg Street between Evergreen Drive and Campbell.
“Our streets took a pretty good beating this winter…We're really making the effort, but we're limited in the patching we can do,” Ross said. Routine street patching by city crews typically starts in early spring and continues through fall.
By itself, Ross said the city cannot finance the amount of construction needed to fix several years worth of street deterioration without grant funding, which support the bulk of expenses for most all improvement projects. The bigger the job, the higher the portion the city pays out in matching funds.
“You'd easily be looking at $300,000 for a complete reconstruction [vs. a street overlay],” Ross said.
Bids for the project officially closed June 14, and the city's received quotes so far from Shamrock Paving.
“We hope to get the street paved in the next two months,” Ross said.
Cara Lorello can be reached at [email protected]
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