Port of Warden makes progress on ongoing industrial road project
Port of Warden Commissioners Pete Campos, left, and Dale Pomeroy, middle, as well as the Port’s Executive Director Pat Millard, right, converse before convening Thursday’s meeting, which saw a progress report on the ongoing industrial bypass road project.
GABRIEL DAVIS/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Exterior of the Port of Warden’s Offices, where Port officials met Thursday evening to discuss the industrial bypass road project. The Port received $2.5 million in federal funding for the project earlier in the year.
WARDEN – The Port of Warden Commissioners and Port officials discussed updates and progress regarding their ongoing Road Infrastructure Improvement & Expansion Project, specifically funding and contracting for the project, during Thursday’s regular meeting.
According to an April press release from the Port of Warden, the project received $2.5 million in Federal Highway Administration Funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The release stated that the project’s purpose is to construct an industrial bypass road within the Port of Warden to and from industrial-zoned properties on the south side of the city.
“We have to do an RFQ. We sent in the one that we did In 2020,” said Port of Warden Executive Director Pat Millard. “But when I sent it in, it didn't have any of the federal requirements.”
An RFQ, which stands for Request for Qualifications or Request for Quote, will be published by the Port of Warden in order to invite potential contractors and vendors to provide a quote or bid on the industrial road project and establish their capability of completing the project.
Millard said she is currently updating the RFQ to reflect current requirements with numbers and prices from engineers, and should receive the amended request soon. Once the new RFQ is approved by the Port of Warden, it will be published and the search for vendors will begin.
According to the press release, as a result of the growth of various industries in the Port of Warden, the industrial bypass road is needed on the south side of town to accommodate increasing truck freight. This will provide a bypass route around residential neighborhoods in south Warden for trucks.
Port officials also discussed a small technical issue in their funding. Officials said during the meeting that a requirement of federal funding is that the project be listed with other local projects, in this case in a list of projects supported by the Quad County Regional Transportation Planning Organization. Port officials said that even though the Port informed QUADCO of the project, they did not put it on their project list.
Consequently, the Port of Warden has asked that QUADCO add the project to the list – normally, the organization only adds projects to its list every two years. Port officials were confident it would not be an issue, and said that the QUADCO Chairmen agreed to add a discussion about the project to QUADCO’s agenda.
Port officials then provided updates on the planning process of the project, including various specialized studies, such as a noise study, that have to be conducted and conditions that have to be met to conform with Washington State Department of Transportation requirements.
“Are we going to have enough money?” asked Port of Warden Commissioner Dale Pomeroy.
Port employees agreed during the meeting that the $2.5 million in funding the port secured in April might not be enough to cover the costs of the project, and that looking for opportunities to apply for more funding would be a good idea.
Port officials said that added requirements resulting from receiving federal funding could end up increasing the cost estimate for the project, but that it was likely they are in a good position to conform to all of the requirements and studies considering that the bypass road is planned for a relatively unpopulated area.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the RFQ update process. It has been corrected above.
