Port Connector Road To Get Stimulus Funds After All
May 8th, 2009 by Rachel PritchettBy Ed Friedrich
efriedrich@kitsapsun.com
Bremerton
Federal stimulus funds will pay for a project that will open the east side of Bremerton National Airport to development.
A connector road across the South Kitsap Industrial Area didn’t make the cut in March, but other regional transportation projects turned out to cost less than estimated. That left money available for the $3 million Port of Bremerton job, Puget Sound Regional Council spokesman Rick Olson said.
The PSRC, which determines where federal
transportation money is
spent, promised Kitsap County that it would be first in line for
leftover dollars because it got less in March than its population
warranted.
The money came from a project that the city of Redmond believed would cost $6.4 million more than it did, Olson said. Those Federal Highway Administration funds were returned for use on other projects.
Port of Bremerton commissioner Bill Mahan said that starting the road project now will let the port capitalize on a favorable construction climate.
“Getting this out to bid now is going to provide the port an opportunity to save some money,” he said.
The project also will create jobs, “which is really what this (stimulus program) is all about,” he said. People could be immediately put to work building the road; businesses that open along the road later also will create jobs.
The road will turn east from Highway 3 just north of the airport, then bend to the south and parallel the east side of the runway. Phase 1 would stop partway down the runway. Phase 2, which would cost $3 million to $4 million more, would extend to Lake Flora Road, Mahan said.
There is no room to expand along the west side of the runway.
“Any jump start we get on opening that (east side) up is going to pay dividends in the next couple years,” Mahan said. “That area will be ready to go when people want to put some airport-related opportunities over there. The east side of the runway is very important to expanding the airport complex.”
The road will also give access to privately owned lands in the industrial area.
Two Kitsap County road projects were awarded stimulus money in March. Improvements to Poulsbo’s Viking Way from the McDonald’s to Highway 305 got $3.8 million, and $150,000 went to Bainbridge Island to make it easier for walkers and bicyclists to get around Blakely and Wilkes elementary schools.
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