Kitsap County was recently awarded a $1,728,000 Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant for the first phase of the Bethel Road corridor improvement project. The first phase will extend from just south of Salmonberry Road to just north of the Lund intersection.

It includes many arterial safety and capacity improvements that allowed it to score higher than other regional projects in the competitive grant program. Of the more than 140 applications, only 27 received grant funding.

The TIB returns state gas tax funds to local communities through five grant programs. Kitsap County submitted a grant application for the Bethel project, which is aimed at improving mobility and safety while supporting an environment essential to the quality of life.

The county is in the TIB program’s Northwest Region, which received $3.28 million of the total $30.5 million statewide AIP program.

Construction of phase one is expected to begin as early as the fall of 2003, pending the timely issuance of state and local environmental permits. The county plans to pursue additional grant funds for other phases of the Bethel Corridor road improvements, which is estimated at $10 million.