Project Downtown pushed back again

PULLMAN — The city of Pullman’s project to rebuild downtown is experiencing more setbacks.

Mayor Francis Benjamin said he had been hopeful construction would be fully complete today, but crews need more time to wrap things up.

The project is now expected to be finished by the end of the month, he said. Truck and vehicle detours on Bishop Boulevard will remain in place until the first week of December, when officials now expect Main Street to fully reopen.

Since April, Main has been closed while crews from Apollo Inc., a Kennewick-based construction company, rebuild downtown’s streets, sidewalks and utilities.

The barriers blocking the roadway were anticipated to come down Oct. 15. That deadline was pushed back twice, and Main Street opened to limited traffic Nov. 14.

Benjamin said the delay was primarily due to contaminated soil and underground work.

He said the biggest challenge has been dealing with heavy rain and snow because much of the work is weather dependent.

A lot of the project has already been completed, he said. Crews just need to finish up work on stop lights, planting trees and bushes, and performing cleanup.

While Main Street continues to be worked on, the public is asked to be cautious of construction vehicles and workers in the area.

Sidewalks have been open during the project, and pedestrians continue to be able to access downtown and businesses.

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.

The project has run into several hiccups along the way — the once four-month construction job will now be an eight-month project. It has also run over budget from added costs related to treating contaminated soil.

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

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.