The City of Auburn will use nearly $5.5 million in grant funding to round out the funding of two street projects, one of them the widening of a part of Auburn Way South.

The grants, which the state Transportation Improvement Board awarded Dec. 1, are part of the statewide program to fund 184 different projects across Washington, totaling $137 million.

Auburn will use the money to widen a portion of Auburn Way South (SR 164), creating a 5-lane, cross-section with two general purpose travel lanes in either direction, and provide a two-way, center-turn lane from Hemlock Street Southeast to Poplar Street Southeast.

This project will include the construction of new, 10-foot-wide sidewalks on either side, street lighting, and transit stop and utility improvements. The grant award from the Transportation Improvement Board is $3,309,032, which is just over 41% of the eligible transportation construction costs. A combination of federal and state grants, water utility funds, and local city funds will fund the full project, which the city estimates will cost just under $11 million.

The funds also will go toward improving the Regional Growth Center Improvements at the Third Street NE/Fourth Street NE intersections with Auburn Avenue and Auburn Way North to address non-motorized access and traffic operations and circulation by adding turn lanes and crosswalks and modifying signal operations.

The grant award from the Transportation Improvement Board is $2,112,444, which is just over 57% of the eligible transportation construction costs. The full project is funded by a combination of Sound Transit and state grants, utility funds, and local city funds and is currently estimated to cost approximately $4.6 million.