Grant Transit Authority building likely done in April

MOSES LAKE - The construction of Grant Transit Authority's new Moses Lake facility is nearing completion.

The building should be done by April.

The cold weather and unavailability of American steel resulted in the project not being done this month as planned, said Grant Transit Authority (GTA) Manager Greg Wright, on Thursday.

The $4.9 million project remains within budget, he said.

It is expected some employees move into the administration/operations building by the end of April.

"We're really excited," he said.

It will probably be mid-May by the time GTA occupies the maintenance building.

Their goal is to keep its Ephrata location open as a one-worker satellite office.

The Ephrata building is owned by the city and leased by GTA.

In Ephrata, GTA can continue selling its bus passes and serve as a Northwest Trailways ticket agent.

"Amtrak stops here, so in terms of intermodalism, it makes sense for us to stay here," Wright said.

The benefits of GTA's new building include being closer to its maintenance contractor in Moses Lake, People for People.

Two or three more mechanics are expected to be hired by GTA.

Another benefit is the covered fleet parking, keeping vehicles out of the extreme heat and cold.

The project is funded by $3.6 million in federal stimulus dollars, a $475,000 earmark, $222,750 in state Department of Transportation money, and $725,000 in GTA reserves.

The project's three buildings, housing maintenance and administration, and offering covered bus parking, totals about 28,000 square feet, said Tim Steinbrecher, project manager with the Spokane-based Graham Construction & Management Inc.

The project is employing workers from the Columbia Basin, he said.

On any given day, between 20 and 40 workers are on the site. More than half of those employees are from Moses Lake, Ephrata and Quincy.

The weather did slow the project down, stopping work on certain portions and at certain times, he said.

"Certain things couldn't happen while other things did," he said.

Concrete and concrete masonry block work was held up because of the cold.

Graham's other projects in the Columbia Basin most recently include the Moses Lake Walgreen's store on East Broadway Avenue.

Graham is currently working on a $10 million to $10.5 million project for Grant County PUD, called the Wanapum Dam Maintenance Center.

The PUD's project started in November 2010 and is about one-third of the way done.

The project should be done in November of this year.

Between 25 and 40 people work at the project, which totals about 75,000 square feet for both buildings.

He described the project as new structures, which gives the PUD more capacity to complete more indoor work.

One of the purposes is to have an indoor area to sandblast and repaint equipment, like a big metal sluice gate.