Significant South Grant County Projects Receive Important Funding in 2022 Washington State Legislative Budgets
MATTAWA, Wash., March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As a result of efforts by the Port of Mattawa and local 13th District Legislators, some significant road improvement and community enhancement projects in south Grant County received important funding in the recently passed 2022 Washington State Legislative Budgets.
In particular, the "Miles Ahead" Transportation Package that recently passed the Legislature included $12 million in funding for the "SR 243 Pavement Preservation and Shoulder Rebuild Project".
Washington State Route (SR) 243 is the main transportation artery that goes through the Port of Mattawa, connecting Mattawa and Desert Aire to other large neighboring population centers such as Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima, and the Tri-Cities. As such, this project is both a very important freight mobility infrastructure project and a safety project for the south Grant County area, as the amount of freight and traffic that passes through the Port of Mattawa on SR 243 has been increasing dramatically over the past few years. Additionally, Mattawa and Desert Aire are not far from I-90 and the Port of Mattawa is very centrally located between the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Ellensburg, Moses Lake, and Wenatchee. Furthermore, this stretch of roadway has seen a higher-than-normal number of fatalities compared to other routes.
In summary, the "SR 243 Pavement Preservation and Shoulder Rebuild Project" will make SR 243 a much safer transportation route, enhance freight mobility, retain and create jobs, increase economic development, and accommodate future growth in the south Grant County region of Washington State.
In the 2022 Supplemental Washington State Capital Budget, the Port of Mattawa was awarded $125,000 in funding to upgrade the Port of Mattawa's Event Center, so it will be able to better host community events, education and training activities, and business meetings throughout the year in Mattawa.
As the south Grant County area (Mattawa and Desert Aire) has been growing quickly and is nearly 50 miles away from larger communities, there is a growing need for a suitable venue/facility in Mattawa that can host larger-sized community events and business meetings and conferences.
As a result, upgrading the Port of Mattawa Event Center will increase tourism, business and community meetings, and education and training events in south Grant County, which will in turn boost sales tax revenues for the Mattawa area, and help to increase existing restaurant and catering revenues, and attract hotel development and more restaurant development in the Mattawa area.
For more information, please contact Lars Leland of the Port of Mattawa at 509-761-9734 or [email protected].
The Port of Mattawa is located in southwest Grant County on the Columbia River in Washington State and is the closest inland port in central/eastern Washington State to the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Grant County is the top agricultural production county in Washington State, and Mattawa is a major producer of wine grapes, apples, cherries, potatoes and onions and other high-value irrigated crops.
The Port offers ideal sites for wineries, food processors, fresh produce packing companies, cold storage facilities, small manufacturers, and is a prime location for agribusiness companies because of its central location in Washington State near major irrigated agricultural production areas including the Columbia Basin and the Yakima Valley.
The Port of Mattawa is also very close to Interstate 90 and enjoys some of lowest-cost electricity in the United States from Grant County PUD.
The greater Mattawa area (Mattawa, Desert Aire, Beverly, etc.) is one of the faster growing rural communities in Washington State and has a population of nearly 10,000 people. Additionally, Mattawa is only a one-hour drive or less from several major communities in central Washington such as Moses Lake, Othello, Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, Yakima, Sunnyside, and Ellensburg, which have metropolitan statistical areas (MSA's) with a combined population of nearly 1 million people.
SOURCE Port of Mattawa
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