Cheney awarded state grant for Simpson Parkway preservation

Cheney’s Public Works Department received an early Christmas gift in the form of a grant helping fund street preservation work in 2017 on Simpson Parkway.

The City Council approved a local agency agreement at its Dec. 13 meeting allowing it to take receipt of a $442,560 grant from the state Transportation Improvement Board. The grant provides about 90 percent of the $497,880 project, money that comes from the TIB’s Arterial Preservation Program.

The project will include both street and sidewalk preservation work on the 2,800-foot arterial, built in 2002, that connects State Route 904 with North Sixth Street. The scope of the work will be further defined by the project engineer, and council also approved a $41,442 contract with the firm Parametrix for preliminary design work.

Public Works Director Todd Ableman told the council that the city hopes to have final design work done early enough to bid the project in spring 2017, with construction beginning soon after. The state Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin an estimated $1.5 million – $2.5 million paving project of SR 904 through Cheney from Betz to Mullinix roads this summer, along with some Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) work that would take place between May and mid-June.

“We’d like to get this (Simpson Parkway) out early before the 904 work begins,” Ableman said.

The ADA work is part of a $2.5 million – $3 million region-wide project to improve accessibility. According to WSDOT officials, it is mainly a “concrete” job that will also include addressing ADA issues such as relocation of electrical junction boxes, signal pushbuttons, detection loops and other electrical issues.

“It’s going to be a busy year,” Ableman said about projects in 2017.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.