PORT ANGELES — Five transportation projects in Clallam County could receive major funding from the federal infrastructure law signed into law in November 2021.
The projects will be the subject of a public hearing set for 10:30 a.m. April 18 in the commissioners meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.
“It is a good mix of projects,” said Clallam County Commissioner Mike French at the commissioners’ March 27 work session, noting they include the Olympic Discovery Trail as well as road and bridge projects.
The five projects consist of one Port Angeles street project, one Forks street project and three Olympic Discovery Trail projects.
The county will receive $2.04 million between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2025.
The money comes from the federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program, which was extended under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The funding can pay for 86.5 percent of a phase of a road, bridge, recreational trail, transit or ferry project.
The city of Port Angeles is seeking $750,000 during the two fiscal years for preliminary engineering and design of phase two of its Race Street project. It will include a pedestrian, bicycle and recreational trail along Race Street between Eighth and Front streets.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe also is seeking $221,623 during fiscal years 2023 for Dean Creek Bridge improvements immediately west of West Old Blyn Highway.
“It’s a part of the trail that the county manages. The tribe helped put the bridge in there years ago,” said county transportation program manager Steve Gray.
“The bridge failed a number of years ago and great county and volunteer effort managed to raise the bridge.
But it’s kinda on a temporary piling and won’t last forever. There should be new bridge abutments with steel pilings,” he said.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe also is seeking $55,222 for preparing a long-range plan for repair and rehabilitation of the Dungeness River Historic Bridge, the historic timber bridge section over the Dungeness River.
“Their other project is dealing with funding for the historic bridge, the remnant of the wood bridge across the Dungeness River, all part of the Olympic Discovery Trail,” Gray said.
“They are going to come up with a long-range plan for how to repair and rehabilitate that bridge.”
Two other projects already are set for the federal funding.
The city of Forks will receive $386,760 for the construction phase of its Bogachiel Way overlay project.
The county will receive $825,000 for construction of the Olympic Discovery Trail from Forks Calawah River Park to Sitkum-Sol Duc Road.
The federal money is funneled through the state Department of Transportation and then the county commissioners decide which projects get the money following the public hearing.
However, in contrast to many grant programs where there are more projects than money, Gray said the challenge with this program is finding projects that are ready to go and getting the money obligated.
If the county doesn’t obligate all the available money to a project, the state will send the leftover somewhere else, and if the state doesn’t distribute all the money, the federal government will send the leftover to another state, he said.
The county’s public works department is recommending the commissioners allocate all the requested money to the five projects, Gray said.
“I’m surprised we just had three applications,” Commissioner Randy Johnson said. “Do you normally get more applications than what you have funding for?”
“You kind of have to have a project that’s ready to go,” Gray responded. “Once you go into a federally funded project, from an engineer’s standpoint, there’s a lot of administrative stuff you have to do with other funding sources. It’s more challenging.
“So, usually when you get these applications, it’s a project ready to go because you are asking for a significant amount of money,” he said.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
