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Grand Coulee could turn over a stretch of the infamous B Street to the Bureau of Reclamation.

The city council discussed the topic at their May 21 meeting.

Public Works Director Dennis Francis brought the topic up, noting that the bureau didn’t want contractors doing repair work on B Street while they were working on the fire station the Bureau is building along SR-155 where it connects to Industrial Road, a small stretch that connects to B Street.

Francis said that Ian Turner, the project manager for the bureau’s fire station, came up with a plan that the bureau could take over and do the repairs on the street.

“The thing is, that street really doesn’t do the city much good,” Francis told the council. “It’s bureau land on both sides of the street, so we’re not getting any tax money for that street. I realize that we need it open, though, for fire, police, and alternate traffic. So if the council chooses to somehow deed this over to the bureau, then we would have to have that in place, too, that it would stay open as an accessible street.”

B Street is currently closed from where it intersects with Division Street to SR-155.

Francis noted that money that would otherwise be needed for maintenance of B Street could go toward other street repairs if the bureau took over that stretch.

The council and mayor stressed the importance of keeping the road open, and a nervousness about the bureau being able to just keep the road closed, as it has been during construction of the fire station.

“We think it’s a necessity for access to the city,” Fire Chief Rick Paris said. “You don’t have any other access down the hill if the main highway is blocked.”

“We would press the requirement of total access if we do turn it over to them,” Mayor Paul Townsend said. “We’d have to have some kind of contract.”

“Just like when they changed the speed on the hill, they will do things without due process to the public,” Paris said. “They didn’t put any of that on the public when they decided to do all that.”

Councilmember Tammara Byers expressed her distaste for the speed limit change on SR-155 from 40 mph to 30 mph two years ago, echoing the sentiments of many local commuters.

The council decided it was important to discuss further the idea of turning over B Street with Turner from the bureau and with Paris to explore the idea further.