PORT ANGELES — The westernmost stretch of Old Olympic Highway will get a fresh layer of asphalt this year if Clallam County commissioners sign agreements with the state today — and if the state agrees to fund it.

The $585,000 project would entail asphalt grinding, backfilling and a new overlay for a 1.3-mile segment of the major artery between U.S. Highway 101 and Siebert Creek.

“The current roadway is experiencing spot subgrade failures and cracking of the asphalt,” the project prospectus reads.

Commissioners will consider approving the prospectus and local agency agreement with the state Department of Transportation when they meet today.

The county is seeking $506,025 in federal funds to cover most of the cost.

“It’s kind of a unique project,” Clallam County Transportation Program Manager Rich James told commissioners Monday.

“We’re not doing anything very unique here, but we’re actually going after other agency funding, and other state funding.”

Under new state rules, a local agency’s 34 percent share of federal transportation funds will go to another jurisdiction unless the local agency can prove it has construction-ready projects lined up.

Clallam County has its Surface Transportation Program, or STP, funds obligated to the Deer Park underpass project.

“We’re actually seeking additional STP funding from any jurisdictions that haven’t met their obligation goals,” James said.

If the state agrees to fund the Old Olympic Highway paving project, construction would begin in September and wrap up by mid-November.

Farther east on Old Olympic Highway, the county has nearly completed right of way acquisition for a $1.2 million project to widen the road to 40 feet between Gunn Road and the McDonald Creek bridge.

Construction on that segment is planned for early 2014.

In other transportation news, County Engineer Ross Tyler announced that contractor Scarsella Brothers has broken ground on the long-planned Deer Park Road underpass beneath U.S. Highway 101 just east of the Morse Creek “S” curve.

The county awarded a $4.8 million bid to the Kent contractor June 25 to build a two-lane county road with a foot and bicycle paths that will go under the existing highway and eliminate the hazardous crossings from Deer Park Road and Buchanan Drive.

“They’re moving dirt today,” Tyler said Monday.

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.