TransCo checks on development status

COLUMBIA BASIN — Nineteen transportation projects continue with the widening of Interstate 90 being the furthest along.

Area transportation coalitionTransCo held a meeting Friday morning in Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building to discuss the projects, including widening state Route 17 to Ephrata and rail lines running to Quincy and Royal.

"We had a smaller attendance than we've had so far, but that's normal with any group," said TransCo representative Autumn Weis. "Start out big and then get down to the people who are the die-hard supporters."

About 12 participants looked over a folio outlining the 19 transportation projects identified as community needs, including a map of the area and a list of representatives.

Those in attendance also heard about the status of the majority of projects for creation of a matrix. The matrix shows which stage each project is at.

"We've got a good status check where everybody stands," Weis said. "A lot of things are in the pre-discussions and the designing. There was a large discussion about grants and funding, because there are grants out there, but it's hard to find what you're looking for."

TransCo Director Karen Bonaudi said there are TransCo participants willing to help with the grant writing and application process.

Widening of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass appears to be, at present, the project which is the furthest along, but Weis said the group does not attend to prioritize any of the projects.

"Projects like the Snoqualmie Pass which just end up naturally taking the lead, they're going to allow that to happen," Weis said. "Just because Snoqualmie Pass is out front right now doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be the first thing completed."

I-90 Project Director Brian White of the state's Department of Transportation presented an update on the project.

White said his project is involved with the transportation group in order to help spread awareness across the state about how things are going with the pass widening.

"It's not an East Side project or a West Side project, it's really a statewide project and sometimes people think someone else is going to take care of it," White said. "We try to get out to as many folks as we can … I-90 goes through the Moses Lake area, so it's part of the critical link for that community as well."

The state Legislature's passed a new budget, which included $525 million for the interstate project, White said. It will fund the first 5 miles of the project, beginning at Hyak.

White said a wider snow shed is being considered. It replaces an original preferred alternative building, a bridge out into the lake, he said, after new information from geotechnical drilling.

People involved in the project are working on design and completing its federal environmental impact study next year, making sure the snow shed change is feasible, White added. The project is on schedule.

White expects to go out for advertising for contractors in 2009 and begin construction in 2010. Construction of the project is expected to last six years.

"The biggest factor driving that longer construction season is the winter," White said. "We've pretty much shut down from October to April. Not to say a contractor could not propose working during the winter, but there's just a whole host of issues weather-related. We're just not seeing the contractor's going to want to be out there heating concrete, working in the snow."

The domain name for the group, www.transcowa.com, was purchased. Bonaudi plans to meet with a Web developer to discuss the layout of the Web site. The Web site would include the folio, funding timelines, the matrix chart, contact information, member lists, upcoming meeting and events and any correspondence.

TransCo plans to have a booth at the Grant County Fair.

TransCo meetings are open to the public.

The 19 projects on the TransCo folio are:

Trails

1. McDonald Siding to Parker Horn, railroad right of way conversion

2. Coulee Corridor Trail

Rails

3. Port of Moses Lake — Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project

4. Port of Quincy rail siding extension

5. Rehabilitate rail at Port of Ephrata

6. Royal City to Othello — rail restoration

7. Palouse and Coulee City Railroad Restoration

8. Ellensburg to Lind rail restoration

9. Burlington Northern Santa Fe full capacity issue, double track Everett to Spokane

10. Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project connection to Burlington main line

Roads

11. Lake Loop I-90/Hiawatha to State Route 17

12. Broadway to Cascade Valley lake crossing

13. I-90/Road N on/off ramps for freight traffic

14. I-90 Corridor — Snoqualmie Pass widening

15. State Route 17, U.S. 395 to Ephrata — widen to four lanes

16. State Route 28/281, Wenatchee to I-90 — widen to four lanes

17. Renovate Road R between U.S. 2 and State Route 28

18. Central Washington Commerce Highway, U.S. 395/S R 17/ Us 97

Runways

19. Resume passenger air service to Grant County International Airport