East Wenatchee To Include Link Bus Stops In Sidewalk Projects

East Wenatchee is partnering with Link Transit on a project that'll build more sidewalks and improve bus stops. 

The city is using grant money to fill in sidewalk gaps on 5th Street and NW 19th Street. 

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East Wenatchee Public Works Manager Garren Melton says the agreement with Link will let crews include bus stops in projects to build sidewalks.  

"The city likes to partner with various agencies, to save money for both agencies by getting improvements built in under one contract," said Melton. "It saves on all the soft costs, getting the contractor out there."  

The work will be done under two East Wenatchee Street Improvement Projects - 5th Street Improvements Project and 19th St NW & NW Cascade Ave Improvements Project - that are being paid for by the state. 

The money is coming from the state Transportation Improvement Board and the Washington Department of Transportation. 

Link asked for their improvements to be added to the city's projects to capitalize on the economies of scale, and to avoid having to rework recently installed infrastructure with their own project in the future. 

Melton says it'll let crews work on transit improvements while they're building sidewalks. 

"This agreement is for putting bus stops in as long as they're going to be out there with all the equipment and crews to get things done," Melton said. 

The sidewalks will be built on 5th Street NE between Eastmont Ave to N Grover Ave, and from N James Ave to N Jonathan Ave. 

The project will fill in sidewalk gaps left by the Safe Routes to School project, which is now in progress. The federally funded Safe Routes program is bringing about $6.8 million to create safe walking paths for kids between schools and residential areas 

Link's contribution to get its bus stops built is relatively small - $65,000 for the 5th Street Improvements Project, and $12,000 for the 19th St NW & NW Cascade Ave Improvements.