The Washington state Transportation Improvement Board recently awarded 73 street and sidewalk improvement grants to local agencies totaling $95.2 million.

This includes $4 million that was awarded to Federal Way for the South 352nd Street extension project, from Enchanted Parkway to Pacific Highway South.

When completed, the $5.6 million South 352nd Street project will connect two main thoroughfares in Federal Way. It is expected to include a three-lane road with a two-way left-turn lane and bike lanes. A traffic signal is planned at the South 352nd Street and Pacific Highway intersection.

The intersection at South 352nd Street and Enchanted Parkway South will be widened to accommodate a right-hand turn lane. Curbing, gutters, sidewalks and planter strips will be added. Utilities will be adjusted and relocated.

The grant funding comes from the revenue generated by three cents of the statewide gas tax dedicated by the Legislature for local agency grants. The Transportation Improvement Board funds street and sidewalk construction and preservation in all 281 incorporated cities and those counties with arterial roads inside the federal urban boundary.

Urban projects support state transportation policy priorities of safety, sustaining growth and development, mobility and physical condition. Small city projects restore the condition of streets and seek to extend ADA accessible sidewalks throughout the central business district and out to generators of pedestrian travel. The board has a total of 344 active grant projects statewide and more than 150 currently under construction.

The Legislature created the board to make and manage state investment in quality local transportation projects. Project funding is awarded on a competitive basis.

For more information, visit www.tib.wa.gov.