East Wenatchee Shoring Up City Funds For Road Projects

East Wenatchee has city funding set up for road projects for the next several years. 

The money comes from a  .1 percent sales tax through the city's Transportation Benefit District, which is matched up with larger grant funding to finance the projects. 

East Wenatchee Public Works Manager Garren Melton says the list of projects gets updated over time. 

"This project list essentially lays out what our plan is for the next six years," said Melton. "It's very much a living document. As grant opportunities come up, we add on." 

This year’s schedule includes $293,000 for roadway improvement and planning projects. It was approved by the city council at their meeting last Tuesday. 

Melton says the current fund is restrained to accommodate a larger than usual project in 2026, which includes overlays, a large grant match for 5th Street NE improvements, and a sizeable contribution to the North Kentucky Ave design project. The schedule for use of .1 percent sales tax money on projects wil rise to $490,960 in 2025 and $996,608 in 2026. 

He said they collaborate with the city water department on the timing of road projects. 

"We've got a pretty long list of streets that need attention and that we'd like to overlay," Melton said. "They've got a pretty long list of roads where the water main needs (to be) replaced. And there's quite a long list of overlaps between those. As they have roads that have higher needs, we're able to move this project list around." 

Melton said a space has been made in 2027 and 2028 on the list to accommodate the water district's need to get water lines out of the way for a major Washington Department of Transportation project to widen Sunset Highway, which is State Route 28. 

The $61.5 million WSDOT project will widen SR 28 from two lanes to four lanes between 9th Street and Hadley Street, and construct sidewalks and bike lanes. The project will also install a non-mountable curb median to restrict left turns to reduce crashes and traffic back-ups.  

Specifically, the $293,00 earmarked for 2024 includes the following improvement and planning projects: 

• Annual Pavement rating updates - $15,000 
• Safe Streets for All Grant Match - $60,000 
• Parkroy Place Overlay - $124,800 (Bid price $116,000) 
• State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) Complete Streets Project 3rd St NE - $72,000 
• Highline Drive Traffic Calming - $30,000 

A projects list passed by the city council in January did not include the TIB Complete Streets Project or the Highline Drive Traffic Calming, which is an island that'll be comstructed in the middle of the road to slow traffic down northbound approaching a roundabout.