ARLINGTON — Two Arlington infrastructure projects were given the green light from the federal government recently.
The city found out Aug. 24 that projects to construct a sidewalk on N. Gifford Avenue and a trail on 188th Street NE have been approved for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The act, which primarily funds federal stimulus money to city and county projects throughout the United State, will provide approximately $92,000 to fund the Gifford sidewalk and about $122,000 for the 188th Street NE project.
Jim Kelly, Arlington Public Works Director, said Aug. 26 that the city was on a contingency list for the federal funds. The city had applied for funding earlier in the summer, but didn’t make the primary list.
“Some of that money was returned, though, so even though we didn’t make the first cut, we were still on the list,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he will be meeting with the Infastructure Coordinating Committee of Snohomish County to see when those federal funds might be available for the sidewalk.
A flyer went out the week of Aug. 24 notifying people living in the area, and Kelly said he will be meeting with residents during September. The specific date and time were not immediately available.
“We’re ready to go to bid right now, but we want to meet with neighborhood residents to get their feedback,” Kelly said.
Two schools — Haller Middle School on E. First Street and Presidents Elementary on E. Third Street — sit on either side of N. Gifford, creating a need for a sidewalk for children to get to school, he said.
“Right now, a lot of the people going from the two schools walk in the road,” he said.
Alan Boatman, assistant principal at Haller Middle School, said Gifford is one of the more heavily traveled areas near the school despite the lack of sidewalk.
He said many of the middle-schoolers cross Gifford after school to get to the nearby library.
“I’ve never heard of any problems in that two block stretch between first and third,” he said. “I’m sure there have been concerns.”
The city had originally applied for funds from various state grants, but had to shelve the plans until those funds could be obtained.
The trail at 188th Street NE, which has already been bid to Aero Construction, Co., will begin construction once the street has been repaved.
The city will be closing the street Sept. 1-4 to widen and repave 188th Street between 59th Avenue NE and 66th Avenue NE.
The street will remain open to local residents during the process.
Once funding is secured, each stimulus project is scheduled to take between four and five weeks to complete.
For more information about the city’s projects, contact the Public Works office at 360-403-3503.
