Inland Asphalt Co., of Spokane, has landed two Washington state Department of Transportation paving contracts worth a combined $5.7 million, to repave about 14 miles of two roadways north of Spokane, including a stretch of U.S. 2.

Both projects are being paid for with federal stimulus funding. Inland Asphalt was awarded a $5.2 million contract to repave a 12-mile section of U.S. 2 between its junction with state Route 211 and the city of Newport, in Pend Oreille County. The other contract is for a $540,000 project that will involve repaving about 2.3 miles of state Route 206, also called Mount Spokane Park Drive, between its junction with U.S. 2 and its intersection with Bruce Road.

Work on the U.S. 2 project will begin about the end of July, and will take about 11 weeks to complete, says DOT spokesman Al Gilson. In that project, Inland Asphalt will grind and resurface the highway, using a technique called cold in-place recycling to reuse the current road bed, which it then will pave over with a layer of asphalt. During the work, U.S. 2 will be reduced to one lane in the work zone, with traffic controlled by flaggers and pilot cars. Gilson says there will be traffic delays at times throughout the project.

In the Mount Spokane Park Drive project, which will start around the same time but will continue for just 20 working days, Inland Asphalt will grind and repave that stretch of roadway, but won't recycle the road bed there. During the work, Mount Spokane Park Drive will be reduced to one lane where crews are working, and traffic will be guided by flaggers and pilot cars.