Low bids + excess stimulus funds = resurfacing of state Highway 14
State to put $2.1 million into repair of heavily traveled road
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A rough ride on state Highway 14 will become considerably smoother next summer, thanks to an unforeseen infusion of federal economic stimulus dollars.
The Washington Department of Transportation will apply about $2.1 million in federal largesse to resurface an eight-mile stretch of Highway 14 between Interstate 5 and its interchange with 164th Avenue in east Vancouver. State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond announced seven new projects statewide on Wednesday, including the one in Vancouver.
“They were projects that were already engineered and could be ready to move forward on a short time frame,” said Lloyd Brown, spokesman for the Washington Department of Transportation in Olympia.
The money is part of $492 million in economic stimulus funding provided to Washington for state and local highway projects. That’s a fraction of the $787 billion stimulus bill, signed by President Barack Obama in February, but it’s highly coveted by contractors in a recession-wracked economy.
By mid-July, state officials saw that job-starved contractors were bidding 29 percent below engineers’ estimates.
That enabled the DOT to apply excess federal stimulus dollars to a second tier of projects worth more than $80 million. Those projects also came in below the estimated costs, freeing up $12.3 million for the seven additional state highway projects announced Wednesday.
State transportation planners in Vancouver scrambled to fast-track the repaving of Highway 14 — a project previously slated for 2011. “It was in the early design phase when the (stimulus) funds came about,” said Annie Linstrom, a DOT spokeswoman in Vancouver. The state will pitch in $1 million toward the $3.1 million estimated cost of resurfacing the badly deteriorating highway toward the Columbia River Gorge.
The road took a beating during the snow and ice storm a year ago, and last week’s arctic freeze compounded the problem.
“Chains are really hard on the pavement,” Linstrom said. “It’s quite damaged.”
The DOT is planning to advertise for bids on Feb. 22, with construction due to begin in June or July.
Linstrom said contractors will grind down the heavily traveled right-hand lanes in both directions, then lay down a fresh layer of asphalt. Potholes will be repaired on the interior lanes.
Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551 or erik.robinson@columbian.com.
Rate this
You must be logged in to rate this.
Current Rating : Nobody has rated this article yet.
Search Alerts
Receive updates from us on people or topics that interest you. (What's this?)
Sign up to receive email and/or text alerts from us whenever someone or something of interest appears on columbian.com. For example, if you follow the Blazers, you could enter LaMarcus Aldridge and we'd send you a link to our stories whenever he is mentioned in them. You just enter the person's name or other search terms, i.e., light rail or Vancouver crime, and then click Submit to sign up to receive updates. Note: Keep in mind that carrier charges may apply for SMS updates.
Choose a term below or enter in your own for you to automatically receive alerts when we post something new.
