PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will be working on 43 planned road, bridge, culvert and trail projects over the next six years, as outlined in the 2025-2030 draft transportation improvement program.
In addition, 47 unfunded projects have been identified in the transportation improvement program (TIP).
County public works/roads staff presented the draft to county commissioners at their Monday work session.
The TIP planned projects section lists 13 road construction projects, four bridge projects, 11 culvert and fish passage projects, 13 non-motorized transportation improvement projects and two “various location” projects.
Overall, the TIP planned projects are estimated to cost $64.029 million. Federal funds likely will total $43.391 million, state and other funds will be about $13.947 million and $6.691 million will be county funds.
The county funds largely will come from the property tax road levy and the county’s share of the state motor vehicle fuel tax, according to the draft TIP. It also could include real estate excise tax or other county funding.
Joe Donisi, a county engineer and public works deputy director, said the county’s long-term strategy for transportation improvement projects is to locate grants for “both new construction and regular old run-of-the-mill asphalt overlay projects.”
Acquiring grants for new projects allows the county to reserve its limited county road funds for road maintenance, he added.
TIP planned road construction projects will include realigning roads, widening shoulders, resurfacing portions, adding turn lanes, acquiring rights of way, studying intersections, doing spot improvements and more for over 15 miles of county-maintained roads.
These projects are anticipated to cost about $18.57 million.
About $11.369 million will be paid for with federal funds, $4.17 million will be paid for with state or other funds, and the remaining $3.031 million will be paid for with county funds.
Overall, the county manages a total of about 490 miles of roads. Road maintenance and operations projects are not included in the TIP, Donisi said.
TIP bridge projects will include replacing the wooden Clallam Slough bridge and doing various bridge preservation work for three other county bridges.
These projects are anticipated to cost $9.342 million, with $9.142 million coming from federal funds and the remaining $200,000 coming from county funds.
There are 38 bridges within the county.
The TIP culvert and fish passage projects are estimated to cost $16.923 million. About $8.865 million will be federal funds, $6.888 million will be state or other funds and $1.17 million will be local funds.
The TIP non-motorized transportation improvement projects will involve designing, improving, constructing and acquiring land for more than 60 trail miles.
These projects are estimated to cost about $17.394 million. About $14.015 million of these funds are federal dollars, with Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) funds accounting for a large portion of the funding.
About $2.889 million will be state or other funds, while the remaining $490,000 will be local funds.
The final two TIP “various location” projects include road resurfacing and other improvements such as shoulder widening, traffic control devices, surface upgrades and more. These projects are anticipated to use about $1.8 million in county funds.
“That’s an extremely large body of work we have in the TIP, and, with the RAISE grants, probably twice as many funded projects as we’ve had in the past,” Commissioner Mark Ozias said.
TIP unfunded projects include road reconstruction, upgrades and improvements for more than 22 miles of county roads. It also includes Olympic Discovery Trail projects, pedestrian and bicycle road safety studies and culvert replacement projects.
Overall, the unfunded projects are projected to cost a total of $51.885 million.
A public hearing regarding the draft TIP will be held at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 12 during the commissioners’ regular meeting.
The draft six-year TIP can be viewed on the county’s website.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
