Federal Infrastructure Grant for 53rd Street: The Benton County Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with applying for a Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) through the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).
The grant funds will go towards construction of an overpass and will include naturalizing Dunawi Creek and realigning it under the bridge as it currently crosses under SW 53rd in a culvert. There may be two roundabouts added to the thoroughfare as well.
The county intends to apply for two options of the grant, the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways Projects grant (INFRA), and the Rural Surface Transportation grant (Rural). The Rural grant opportunity would require a 20% match whereas the INFRA grant requires a 40% match.
The total grant request the county will be submitting for the project is $20 million for a total project cost of $25 million. For the County’s share of the project, $5 million would be borrowed.
Speed Change: The Benton County Board of Commissioners also voted to move forward with a speed change on Oak Creek Drive in Corvallis. At the August 1 meeting, commissioners approved a request to change the current speed limit from 50 miles per hour to 45.
The new designated speed of 45 MPH will start on NW Oak Creek Drive between 53rd Street and NW Cardwell Hill Drive.
The County conducted a preliminary speed zone survey and determined that a speed limit reduction request was warranted, according to Owen Millehrer with Benton County Public Works.
“The County requested that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) conduct a study with the recommendation that the speed limit be set at 45 MPH. ODOT Staff performed the speed study and concurred with the County’s recommendation to designate the speed on NW Oak Creek Drive at 45 MPH,” said Millehrer.
By Jennifer Warner
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