SR 195 project slated to start Friday

Starting April 30, construction crews will be tearing up 8.6 miles of Highway 195 south of Colton in a federally funded contract to resurface the highway.

One lane of traffic will be kept open as crews alternate through phases of the construction, which is expected to continue until late June.

Ten days will be spent resurfacing the highway through Uniontown. Crews will strip the roadway down to the sub-grade gravel and rebuild from there.

Poe Asphalt of Pullman won the contract for the $2 million project.

The DOT is paying for the project with left over stimulus funding granted to the Spokane DOT region. Funds remained when other projects in the region cost less than anticipated. Poe crews will remove asphalt and then resurface the highway.

DOT spokesman from Spokane said the project is a standard maintenance issue, only made possible because of the boost of stimulus dollars.

Their main goal, said spokesman Al Gilson, is to stabilize the base of the highway and eliminate existing patchwork of potholes.

Uniontown public works director Brandon Schell said the project will take an estimated 42 days to complete.

Schell said highway potholes exist through Uniontown. City residents have complained they cannot hear semi-trucks clamor across the potholes at night, keeping them awake, Schell said.