The Rathdrum, Idaho office of Knife River Corp. has been awarded a $1.9 million contract by the Washington state Department of Transportation to repave a portion of busy Pines Road and state Route 27 in Spokane Valley, says DOT spokesman Al Gilson.

The company's bid came in under the engineer's estimate of $2 million, he says.

A construction timeline has yet to be determined, but work is estimated to take 11 weeks to complete, Gilson says.

Work will involve grinding and repaving a 3.7-mile stretch of state Route 27 between 32nd at the south end of the project and Mansfield Avenue, just north of Interstate 90, at the north end of the project, Gilson says.

North of 16th Avenue in Spokane Valley, Route 27 is more commonly known as Pines Road.

Plans also call for sidewalk upgrades to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards along parts of the arterial, and for the contractor to apply crack sealant to pavement between Mansfield and Trent avenues, Gilson says.

As part of the project, Gilson says Knife River Corp. will resurface the Pines Road overpass that spans I-90 and will install traffic-detection equipment used for traffic control purposes.

Funding for the project will come mostly from the federal Surface Transportation Program and the Washington state motor vehicle account, Gilson says, adding traffic impacts during construction have yet to be determined.

Energy and transportation company MDU Resources Group Inc. of Bismarck, N.D., is the parent company of Knife River Corp., also headquartered in Bismarck. Knife River Corp. has operations in 13 states, including Washington and Idaho.