Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Almota closed after all for Fourth
WHITMAN COUNTY – Another week of rock work was on the schedule for Almota Road south of Colfax last week, nearing the opening of the road to passenger cars by the Fourth of July.
“Then the contractor pulled all of his trucks for a week,” said Dean Cornelison, assistant county engineer. “To go work on another project.”
The road is still closed to most traffic, with rocks as large as 12 inches scattered on the surface.
“It’s traversible in a four-by-four pickup,” Cornelison said, as he sat between Mark Storey, Public Works director, and Michael Largent, county commissioner, on a video screen during a courthouse work session Monday.
“We’re not very happy,” said Storey.
“No,” said Cornelison.
Commissioner Art Swannack asked a question by way of a computer from his office.
Storey explained the situation in his answer.
“The contract did not have a ‘thou shalt be open by the Fourth of July’ clause in it, to make a long story short,” he said.
He added that, while it was a surprise that contractor M.A. DeAtley pulled the trucks, it is not uncommon on large projects during the summer season.
Overall, the Almota Road Phase Four widening project is still ahead of schedule.
“The road is going to be traversible mid to late July – gravel – then paving sometime in mid-August,” Cornelison said.
Contractors are still at work on the project this week, clearing shot-rock spillover from the roadside resulting from earlier work.
“We would love to have this road open for harvest, which we’re desperately trying to get done,” said Storey.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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