City awarded a $3 million Washington State Transportation Board grant to help fund construction
VANCOUVER — The city of Vancouver has been awarded a $3 million Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant to help fund construction of the western segment of its Southeast 1st Street Improvement Project, between Southeast 164th and Southeast 177th avenues.
The full Southeast 1st Street project stretches from 164th Avenue to 192nd Avenue, and is designed to promote safety, capacity, accessibility, and connectivity, as well as open economic opportunities for undeveloped properties in the area known as Section 30 and within the Columbia Tech Center. The improvements will transform what was originally constructed as a rural two-lane, farm-to-market road into a complete urban street system, with sidewalks, bike facilities, stormwater bioretention, street lights, and sound walls where required. The total project is estimated at slightly more than $14 million.
“The city of Vancouver continues to build regional support for our transportation improvement program by leveraging our local street funds with state and federal grant resources,” said Ryan Lopossa, Vancouver Public Works Streets and Transportation manager. “We appreciate the work that the Transportation Improvement Board has done to help fund the Southeast 1st Street project and look forward to advancing this critical investment into construction in late 2019.”
The project is among the high priorities listed in Vancouver’s six-year Transportation Improvement Program and will benefit from the city’s Street Funding Strategy revenues that are being used to secure additional grants for construction.
Design, environmental work, and right-of-way acquisition for the western segment of this project have been funded by $1.6 million in federal grants and about $700,000 in matching city funds. The east end of the project, between 177th and 192nd avenues, is also under design as part of overall development agreement of adjacent private property.
The Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) funds high priority transportation projects in communities throughout the state. Funding for TIB’s grant programs comes from revenue generated by three cents of the statewide gas tax.
More information about the project is available at www.cityofvancouver.us/firststreet.
