County concludes Almota land buys

Whitman County Public Works has made all of the payments to landowners along the route for the planned Amota Road, phase four, road widening/improvement project. All documents have been sent to the Washington State Department of Transportation for approval. The last payments were sent last week.

Dean Cornelison, county assistant engineer, told county commissioners Monday that the person at WSDOT who handles this is on vacation, but once they return, it should be quick.

“In the past, we’ve done certification in a day,” Cornelison said.

The project may then go out to bid for some work this fall and other parts to be pushed to next year.

The Almota Four project spans 3.5 miles between Union Flat Creek and State Route 194 at Onecho Bible Church. It will widen the road from 28 to 34 feet and reduce the Henning Hill grade as much as 10 feet.

Almota Four is the third of a four-phase reconstruction of the road which was started in 2009. The last phase will include a 3.8 mile segment from the Sommers Road intersection north.