Engineers: Downtown Pullman work progressing
Apr. 24—Welch Comer Engineers were happy to report Project Downtown Pullman is moving steadily along.
The engineering firm out of Coeur d'Alene provided an update on the project during the Pullman City Council's regular meeting Tuesday night. Work on Main Street started at the beginning of April, demolishing and moving fixtures to make way for new utility installations in the coming weeks.
Project Downtown is a city-led effort to rebuild Pullman's streets, public spaces and infrastructure on Main from Grand Avenue to Spring Street. Apollo Inc., a contracting company out of Kennewick, Wash., will work until October this year to fully upgrade utilities, repave sidewalks and re-envision downtown's layout.
The project was funded by $9.5 million by the American Rescue Plan Act. About $6.9 is available for construction after the creation of the project's design. The approved contract costs nearly $11.7 million, and Apollo plans to spend $8.7 million.
The city plans to make up additional costs with a project budget, including funding from tax funds like the city's water and sewer utilities fund, along with other funding options. Taking from these reserve won't negatively affect the city's operations or delay any future projects.
Matt Gillis, vice president of Welch Comer Engineers, said a lot is happening every day downtown. On the first day of construction, parallel parking on Olsen Street was changed to angle parking, creating more spots in the area.
Apollo has been demolishing asphalt on Main Street, he said, and the removal of curbs and brick pavers is next. He added utility installation will begin in the coming weeks. The construction company has already removed all the trees that lined Main Street.
While Apollo constructs new utilities, Gillis said a sewer bypass pumping system will be used to maintain sewer service to surrounding businesses and properties.
Crews ran into challenges in the first weeks of construction, he said. The construction company installed temporary signals on Paradise Street and Grand, but a food truck hit and damaged both signals. Apollo was able to stabilize the signals to provide traffic control at the detour path, he added.
Crews have already begun to find surprises underneath Main Street. Gillis said the construction company has found utilities not where they were expected to be and mystery pipes. He added an existing stormwater catch basin was unearthed, which had a gas line going through the middle of it. This is unusual, he said, and Apollo expects to find more abnormalities as work continues.
Welch Comer Engineers also took a moment to thank community partners like CougsFirst, the Downtown Pullman Association, Washington State University, the Pullman Chamber of Commerce and the WSU Brelsford Center.
Courtney Kramer, public involvement specialist at Welch Comer, said these organizations have played an instrumental role in sharing updates with the community.
During the meeting, Pullman Civic Trust members like President Bobbie Ryder and Vice President Lisa Carloye asked councilors and Welch Comer Engineers to consider extending pavers on Pine Street Plaza to the road in the design.
Gillis expanded on this, and added cost and timeline increases to the suggestion. He said extending pavers to the bike lane would cost an additional $41,000 to $76,000 along with a one- to three-week increase. Extending pavers to the curb would be anywhere from $74,000 to $140,000 and a two- to four-week increase.
Gillis said he can't recommend extending pavers as it impacts the project's cost and timeline estimate. He added it may put the project at risk.
Councilors Megan Guido, Nathan Weller and Pat Wright commended Welch Comer Engineers and Apollo for their hard work. They also thanked them for providing an update on the project.
Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.
