PULLMAN, WA – The Whitman County Commissioners have narrowly approved an agreement to apply for a grant to move forward with a long planned truck route to help get freight traffic out of downtown Pullman.

The commissioners voted two to one on Monday to approve a deal with the City of Moscow to pay a consultant to lead the federal grant application process. The long studied plan for an East/West truck route around Pullman has settled on a path South of town. The Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization recently studied three possible East/West Pullman truck routes. Officials decided that a 19 million dollar Southern route between Pullman and Moscow is the best option. The study found that the route would take about 250 trucks out of downtown Pullman every day. The proposal would also remove some truck traffic from downtown Moscow.

On the East end, the route would begin Southeast of Moscow at the intersection of Mountain View Road and Palouse River Drive. The truck bypass 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 freight route would continue West onto Kirkendahl Road South of Pullman to U.S. Highway 195. This preferred route is the most expensive option that was examined in the study.

Moscow City Council recently approved the agreement with Whitman County. The city will spend up to 13,500 dollars paying the consultant firm Welch Comer to apply for federal money to complete design and engineering of the route. The commissioners approval on Monday means that Whitman County will pay Welch Comer up to 31,500 dollars to apply for the grant.

Commissioner Chad Whetzel voted against the agreement voicing concerns with the overall project. You can hear some of Commissioner Whetzel’s thoughts below.

Commissioners Art Swannack and Tom Handy voted to move ahead with the deal to apply for the federal funding.  You can listen to Commissioner Swannack’s comments supporting the plan below.