Stimulus funds find their way to Valley

YAKIMA, Wash. -- It's a go again.

Rebuilding the congested Interstate 82 interchange at Valley Mall Boulevard was put on hold because of state budget woes, but now the $39 million project is back on schedule thanks to funds from the federal stimulus package.

The state Legislature announced Tuesday that Washington will get a total of $671 million in transportation funds from the recently passed stimulus bill, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Of that amount, the state plans to dole out $341 million in highway funds, with nearly $31 million for the Valley Mall Boulevard project.

The plan still faces votes in both the House and Senate and will need final approval from Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The interchange project had been in the proposed state budget for the 2009-2011 biennium, with funding coming from the phased-in gas tax increase. But because of declining gas tax revenues and increasing construction costs, the state Department of Transportation decided at the end of last year to push the project back to at least 2017.

"This keeps the project on schedule," DOT regional communications manager Mike Westbay said Tuesday. He said the department will put the project out for bids in October, and construction will begin next spring as soon as weather allows.

DOT regional administrator Don Whitehouse said the $30.8 million in stimulus funds covers the construction costs cut from the state budget, but DOT has received about $8 million that was left in the state budget for design, right-of-way acquisition and environmental work.

"We've continued to work on that project," Whitehouse said.

He also said that in addition to about 300 construction-related jobs the I-82 interchange project will generate, the more significant long-term benefit will be jobs created from business development along the Valley Mall Boulevard commercial corridor that will eventually extend west to the Yakima airport.

The rebuilt interchange will feature two roundabouts to control the flow of traffic, one for the I-82 eastbound on-ramp and off-ramp and one for the westbound ramps. Another roundabout is planned for just west of the interchange at the intersection of Valley Mall Boulevard and southbound Rudkin Road.

The project also will reconfigure the I-82 interchange to improve access for traffic turning north onto Rudkin Road, which functions as a frontage road for trucking and commerical businesses.

The $341 million in highway funds the state will disburse includes about $49 million for eight other projects in Yakima and Kittitas counties.

Several of those involve repaving or repairing stretches of Interstate 90 between Yakima and Snoqualmie Pass.

* Tim Kelly can be reached at 577-7752 or tkelly@yakimaherald.com.