Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
David Kliewer, area manager for J.U.B. Engineers of Spokane, appeared at a meeting of the Oakesdale City Council Monday night to show architectural drawings of two different options for replacing the wooden Steptoe Street bridge over McCoy Creek on the west side of town near 5th Street.
The council is now waiting on word from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board on whether they will require a sidewalk.
Mayor Dennis Palmer reported that they have yet to hear from TIB on the matter.
Oakesdale has $472,000 in funding for the project, which comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation and Local Programs grant. Oakesdale was awarded the grant in November 2010, along with a 20 percent match from the TIB.
The federal funds for the DOT grant comes with a requirement that no more than 15 percent of the money can be spent on the bridge approaches.
On Monday night at city hall, Kliewer went through the two options for the council and showed drawings of each.
Option one, if TIB allows construction without a sidewalk, involves a 45 x 36 bridge which can be built without need for “out-of-pocket” money from the town, said Kliewer. The present bridge is 20 by 30 feet long.
A second option includes a sidewalk on one side of the bridge and on the approach.
Kliewer noted that the e-mail with the sidewalk question was sent to TIB last Wednesday. He said he expects a reply “any day now.”
“I think the bottom line is TIB will want us to have at least one sidewalk,” said Mayor Palmer. “They’re thinking about safety… Our goal is to have TIB take care of it, and I think they will.”
“We can cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Councilman Al Evans.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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