EPHRATA – The Ephrata City Council passed its six-year transportation improvement program for 2026 through 2031 unanimously Wednesday night during the council’s regular meeting. 

“This is a plan for our roads, this is kind of a wish list,” Public Works Director Rob Harris said.

For the city to be eligible for certain grants and loans regarding street repair they must be listed on the city’s TIP. In short, funding is proposed until a formal grant letter is received, and it may take years for projects to get grant funding. Therefore, TIP is considered just a plan for the city, but not all actions may be taken.  

The city updates the plan annually. TIP is organized by the priority of each project.  

“Yes, it does have an order, but not necessarily an order of appearance,” Harris said. “It is just putting an idea, a plan on what we want to do, and this is the order we would like to see it done in. This plan can be modified at any time depending on funding sources.”  

The totals for all of the projects come out to around $31 million. Of the $31 million, around $608,000 is anticipated to come from federal funds, $0 from state funds and about $30 million from local funds.  

Priority one 

A top priority for road repairs is on A Street Southeast, where the city plans on doing a hot mix asphalt, where pavement is preserved by adding a new layer of asphalt over the existing one to address surface issues like cracking or rutting.  

There are also plans to do subgrade repairs to ensure the new hot mix asphalt surface is built on sufficient base material. 

The existing pedestrian facilities will vary throughout the project; however, any non-Americans with Disabilities Act compliant pedestrian facilities will be upgraded as required.  

The city estimates a start year of 2026, with it costing $703,000. Of those funds, around $608,000 are anticipated to be federal and about $95,000 will be local funds.  

The other priority one plan is the annual crack and chip seal project that includes various streets. The annual maintenance projects happen to preserve the condition and extend the life of various streets throughout the city. The project is anticipated to begin in 2026. 

The city estimates it will cost around $4 million in six phases. All of the funds are anticipated to be local. The first and second phases allocate $1 million each. Phases three through six are anticipated to cost $500,000 per phase.  

Priority two 

The only priority two project is the annual overlay and reconstruction project on various streets, including Cherry Blossom Drive, Dodson Road, Third Avenue, Canal Road, Strand Road, Ninth Street, D Street, A Street Northeast, B Street Southeast and Railroad Avenue. The annual project addresses various city streets that require upgrades or more than basic maintenance work.  

The project requires $3.6 million in funds, all anticipated to be local. The project is broken into six phases, each costing $600,000. 

Priority three 

The city only has one priority three project to extend Nat Washington Way. The city plans on extending a four-lane section of Nat Washington Way from State Route 282 to Dodson Road.  

The project is anticipated to start in 2026 and go into 2027. The total cost of the project is around $3.8 million. The project is in two phases with preliminary engineering expected to cost $380,000. The second phase, including the road work, is anticipated to cost about $3.4 million.  

Priority four 

Ephrata has one priority four project to construct Peachtree Drive to current city standards from Railroad Avenue Northwest to Dodson Road Northwest.  

The phase is set to start in 2027, and the project is anticipated to cost $1.5 million in local funds.  

Priority five 

The only priority five project is to reconstruct Airport Street and Enterprise Street to city standard from State Route 282 to Five Avenue Southeast.  

The listed start of the project is 2027 with an anticipated cost of $4 million in local funds. 

Priority six 

The next priority for the City of Ephrata is to improve bicycle safety on various streets. The city plans on adding more signage and markings to encourage bicycle usage and improve safety for bicyclists.  

The project is anticipated to start in 2027 and cost $300,000 of local funds. 

Priority seven 

The city's next goal for road improvement is adding another railroad crossing in a location that has yet to be determined. The city wants to make the crossing go from the northwest side of the railroad to the southeast side of the railroad.  

The city has yet to decide if this will be at the north end of the town, around 14th Avenue Northeast or the south end of town, around Road 14 Northwest. The city is hoping to do the crossing at ground level, but the railroad may require an overpass.  

The anticipated cost is $5 millions of local funds with a phase start year of 2027. 

Priority eight 

The city has the plan to construct a three-lane arterial from around 14th Avenue, a railroad crossing to Fifth Avenue Southeast and matching up with Airport Street to extend State Route 282.  

The anticipated cost is $5 millions of local funds with a phase start year of 2028. 

Priority nine 

The next plan the city has is to provide traffic improvements, including traffic signals along Alder Street for trucks to bypass the city’s downtown area. The anticipated start year is 2029, with an estimated cost of $2.5 millions of local funds.  

Priority ten 

Finally, the city plans on completing annual ADA improvements to various streets around the city. This work may address sidewalks, access ramps, pedestrian buttons, pedestrian heads and other infrastructure that will improve accessibility to citizens.  

The anticipated cost is $600,000 of local funds. The plan is broken into six parts, with each costing $100,000.