 E.
Lincoln project delayed further; accidents
feared- SUNNYSIDE (4-13-98
)--Recent changes in the E. Lincoln Avenue project are
expected to send contracted engineers back to the
drawing boards, and city staff back to writing more
grant proposals.
The City Council
okayed as much during a workshop meeting last
night.
- After all the delays
the project has encountered, a meeting with the school
district has generated more.
The end result will
probably be better, but it will take time to make the
changes, city staff indicated last
night.
Meanwhile, traffic
continues to build on E. Lincoln, creating fears
someone is going to get hurt on that well traveled
roadway.
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- Lots has happened
since the project was conceived four years
ago.
- It took court time
to exercise eminent domain over a honey bee business
at the corner of 16th Ave. and Lincoln. Superior Court
Judge Heather Nan Nuys found in favor of the city in
the matter.
Sunnyside schools and
affected property owners have voiced their concerns
over existing roadway design. They want to change
it.
Rights of way must be
approved by bureaucrats at the State Dept. of
Transportation, who aren't known as a speedy
bunch.
In the past several
years, Wal-Mart, a video store, and Pioneer Elementary
School have been built on E. Lincoln.
A new state building
is in planning stages, too, Keith Olson,
Anderson-Perry construction engineers, told the City
Council several weeks ago.
- During that time, E.
Lincoln Ave. has continued to be a bumpy, two-lane
road with a lot of traffic.
All that was to end
by next September, barring any right-of-way legal
complications, Olson earlier told the council.
Lincoln would be widened, with
curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
Bids to do the
work were tentatively set to go out by the end of this
March, with a bid award this month or in
May.
- But that scenario
ended recently after a meeting between the city and
Sunnyside School District.
The district would
like to see existing plans changed to include widening
Lincoln still further, to allow parking on both sides
of the steet.
To this end, the
district reportedly has agreed to give up 16-feet of
right-of-way from its properties adjoining Lincoln
Avenue if the city agrees to the
widening.
- This would
reschedule E. Lincoln project completion to sometime
in 1999, according to council discussions. It would
require Anderson-Perry get back to the drawing boards
as well. In addition, the city will probably have to
go after more state or federal grants to complete the
work.
Councilman Mike
Farmer said that, before all this happens, "I'd like
to see a proposal before it goes to the
engineers."
- Mayor Ed Prilucik
agreed. "We really need to get this job done right the
first time," he said.
Public Works
Director Gary Potter said, however, that "Engineers
followed what the city wanted four years ago, but what
it wanted has changed."
- Potter said E.
Lincoln traffic flow has increased drastically since
then.
- Councilman Mike
Farmer noted the fact. "This is a very dangerous area.
It needs to be fixed immediately," he
said.
Councilman Chad
Werkhoven said "We need to let people know we haven't
forgotten about this project." He called for a diagram
to show the public what the city is doing to get the
job done.
- Seventy-five
percent of the $1.1-million project so far has been
paid for by federal funds, about 10 percent by the
state, and 15 percent from budgeted 1998 city
funds.
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