Lafayette Street Railroad Crossing on Track for Federal Grant Approval

A project to construct a pedestrian railroad crossing at Lafayette Street with a federal grant is on track for final approval.

The project is on the draft Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) under consideration by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.

The project was one of several presented at an open house meeting on the 2013-2016 TIP Wednesday at the Franklin County Government Center in Union.

It’s the only new project for Washington in the new TIP. The city applied for federal funds through East-West Gateway earlier this year.

The council is accepting public comments on new TIP projects in the draft plan through July 6. The final plan will be presented to the council July 25.

Total estimated cost of the new pedestrian crossing is $300,000, with $240,000 proposed to be paid through a federal Surface Transportation Project (STP) grant and $60,000 in a local match.

If the grant is approved, the project would be designed in 2013 with construction beginning in 2014. No right of way is required.

City Engineer Dan Boyce said the proposal is to add two 12-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides of Lafayette Street at the railroad crossing as well as modifications to the signal and crossing arms.

The city applied for a grant in 2010 to fund the project, but it did not score high enough and the application was not approved.

Projects in the annual TIP generally follow a three-year cycle, with design work done the first year, followed by right of way acquisition if needed and finally construction in the third year.

The city has five projects in the current 2012-2015 TIP, including the addition of landscaped medians and other enhancements on Highway 100, east of Highway 47; resurfacing of International Avenue, Rabbit Trail Drive, Wenona Drive, Lexington Lane and Washington Heights Drive; widening of Highway 100 from a point west of Highway 47 to High Street and widening and improvement of the Highway 100/Highway A intersection; resurfacing and sidewalk improvements along 14th and Stafford streets; and construction of a new Jefferson Street bridge over Busch Creek.