County road work in low gear for ‘16

Whitman County Public Works forecasts a quieter run for the new year.

“There are no big reconstruction projects at all,” County Public Works Director Mark Storey reported this week.

Instead, a summer of more chip sealing and fewer overlays will feature three smaller projects, bridge reconstructions on Sand Road near Pullman and Steptoe Canyon Road and a series of road safety improvements following an extensive study of the county’s paved roads.

Last year, the $700,000 Hatley Bridge replacement, the $1 million Rosalia Road overlay combined with Dry Creek Road chip-sealing and construction of th...