Project Downtown in Pullman hits another snag

PULLMAN — The city of Pullman’s project to revitalize downtown has been set back again.

Mayor Francis Benjamin said the city’s consultant, Coeur d’Alene-based engineering firm Welch Comer, told staff Thursday afternoon that repaving Main Street was complete this week. However, the firm said crews need more time to stripe the road and install traffic signals.

Main Street is now expected to open to at least one lane of traffic Nov. 11, more than a week past the already delayed Nov. 1 deadline.

“I was hoping to be able to say that everything is opening up,” Benjamin said. “It’s unfortunate the delay is there, but we want to make sure we have it right.”

The project is a city-led initiative to fully upgrade downtown’s utilities, streets, sidewalks and more. The venture encompasses all of Main Street, from Grand Avenue to Spring Street.

Since April, crews from Apollo Inc., a Kennewick-based construction company, have been rebuilding downtown.

Main was anticipated to open by Oct. 15. The Pullman City Council amended the contract in October that extended the completion date to Nov. 1. Construction should be fully completed by Nov. 22.

“I’m fully confident they’ll be able to get it done before Thanksgiving,” Benjamin said. “They’re hard at work. It’s going really well, we have most everything done.”

Benjamin said the contract stipulates the city would fine Apollo for being over schedule. He said city staff and Welch Comer are negotiating change orders to prevent this. The earliest the council could approve a second contract amendment is during the Nov. 12 meeting.

“For a project this size,” he said, “it isn’t unusual to be considering change orders, especially when something happens.”

The delay was primarily because of contaminated soil and underground work.

Most of downtown’s utilities haven’t been touched since being installed a century ago.

Benjamin said soil contamination was expected. Throughout Pullman’s lifespan, a few gas stations, car repair shops and fertilizer stores have been housed downtown.

He said crews sampled and treated the area while properly disposing of the contaminants early this summer.

Benjamin said construction has gone well, other than the delay. Crews just need to finish safety features, like pouring sidewalks, painting crosswalks and traffic lines, and other final touches like planting trees and shrubs and installing lights.

During construction, he said there haven’t been any significant issues.

According to past Moscow-Pullman Daily News reporting, a gas line ruptured in May and a water line broke in June, both causing outages for a short period of time.

The city ran into more problems while planning the project. The reconstruction was supposed to start in the summer of 2023, but an inflated construction market led the council to push back the start date.

The city received no contractors willing to do the work for an initially anticipated four-month construction timeline when it first sent the project out to bid in the fall of 2023.

The project is also running over the budget Welch Comer originally estimated, and there are added costs related to treating the contaminated soil.

The nearly $12 million project was funded by $9.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. In September, the Whitman County Commissioners gave the city $200,000 to aid costs.

Benjamin said the city is waiting until the project is finished to determine how much it owes. He said there’s enough money to use from reserves without affecting the city’s operations or delaying any future projects.

He said the city is also investigating what entity may be responsible for the soil contamination. If the source of the contamination is identified, it’s possible the cleanup costs could be reimbursed.

While Main is still closed to traffic, downtown businesses remain open. Pedestrians are able to access the area while construction continues. Benjamin encourages the public to support businesses, and hopes the area gets more foot traffic in the weeks leading up to the project’s completion.

“I’m excited to have the community come out and enjoy all the work that’s been done,” he said. “It’s looking really good. We’ll be able to enjoy our new Main Street shortly.”

More information about Project Downtown Pullman is available at projectdowntownpullman.org.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.