PULLMAN, WA – A potential East/West truck route around Pullman South of the city appears to be the preferred route for the long discussed effort to get heavy freight traffic out of downtown.
Moscow City Councilmembers will discuss possibly joining the project during their meeting Monday night. According to the staff report to council, Whitman County wants to apply for a federal grant to complete the design and engineering of the route.
The county wants to hire the consultant firm Welch Comer to help with the grant application process. Moscow City Council is being asked to spend up to 13,500 dollars to help pay Welch Comer apply for the federal grant. Whitman County would cover the rest of the contract which cannot exceed 45,000 dollars.
The city staff report finds that this truck route starting South East of Moscow would be a benefit by reducing freight traffic in downtown Moscow.
The entire project to for this South Pullman bypass is estimated to cost nearly 19 million dollars. The proposed route’s East end is in Idaho South East of Moscow at the intersection of Mountain View Road and Palouse River Drive. The truck route would run West on Palouse River Drive to U.S. Highway 95 South of Moscow and on to the state line and Sand Road in Washington. The truck route would continue West onto Kirkendahl Road South of Pullman to U.S. Highway 195.
Officials examined three possible Pullman truck routes from the recently completed Pullman-Whitman County Freight Alternatives Study that was conducted by the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization. The Southern route that officials want to advance is the most expensive option costing over twice as much as a proposal for Albion Road North of Pullman.
