Castle Rock setting sights on unused state road funds

The City of Castle Rock is hoping to make use of a potential opportunity for millions of dollars in state road funds, which could help ongoing efforts to reconstruct Front Ave.

Discussed during the June 24 Castle Rock City Council meeting, Public Works Director Dave Vorse said the city may be able to apply for additional funding from the Surface Transportation Program (STP) if other municipalities are lax in using the STP funds they have been allocated.

Based on gas taxes and other revenues, STP sets aside funding each year for cities across the state to use on road projects at a city’s discretion, as long as those projects are part of a city’s current strategic plan. Until the funding is used, it is entrusted to the leaders of a Planning Region (often county heads, as in the case of Cowlitz County) to whom cities make requests to use the funding. When funding goes unspent at the end of the year, it is rolled over and allowed to accumulate while remaining available to a city.

"There are some regions that have sat on their money and have not used their money," Vorse told the Council. "They have many, many millions of dollars that are sitting there that are not being used. And the state wants to see those funds—the legislators and the people—want to see those funds get used."

Vorse went on to say, if such monies were not obligated to specific projects by Aug. 1, they will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis to regions who have been diligent in obligating their STP funds, such as Cowlitz County.

"Our area has done a very good job of looking at projects and getting the funds and getting obligated," he said.

Vorse and City Engineer Mike Johnson told the council they would like to apply for potential funding to use on the Front Ave. project and asked them to amend the city’s 2013-2018 Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan to include the project so it would be eligible.

(A Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan is an itemized list of priority road projects a municipality hopes to be able to fund if monies were to become available, and is reviewed each year and amended as necessary.)

The council voted unanimously to pass such an amendment to the 2013-2018 plan on its first reading, and also approved the first reading of the 2014-2019 plan, which did not deviate much from the past, according to Johnson, and includes projects for Huntington Ave., Dougherty Dr., and a potential new bridge across the Cowlitz River to replace the bridge on A. St.

Vorse said, if STP funding does become available Aug. 1, the city will know if their project was approved around the end of the year.

The next Castle Rock City Council meeting is schedule for July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. Those with questions or in need of accommodations may call (360) 274-8181, though accommodation requests must be made by 9 a.m. three days prior to the meeting.