The Grant County Road Department crew will start work next summer on one of three road projects with funding received from the Federal Lands Access Program.

CANYON CITY – The Grant County Road Department has received $3.2 million for three road improvement projects through the Federal Lands Access Program.

Work will start next summer with a $1.3 million project to chip seal the 40-mile County Road 20, also known as Middle Fork Road.

Two other projects are set for 2017. They include a $1.4 million reconstruction overlay of a three-mile section of County Road 73, also known as Silvies Hopper Lane, and a $540,360 chip seal surface preservation project on County Road 18, also known as Keeney Forks Road.

The projects include roads within the Malheur National Forest that are supported with a joint endorsement by the U.S. Forest Service and Grant County officials.

Roadmaster Alan Hickerson said the county received the funding because of the cooperative effort.

“It wouldn’t have gone through otherwise,” he said. “That money would have gone somewhere else if we hadn’t worked together.”

Road department office manager Kathy Gilliam said the funds will help extend their operating budget.

“It’s a win-win,” she said.

The road department and Forest Service received notification of their successful proposal for the 2017 projects in mid-October.

“We’re excited to pursue the opportunity,” said Holly Bentz, a Forest Service assistant engineer.

She said the funds are only available for roads that provide access to public lands.

“The roads are critical to some of our future planning activities,” she said. “All three projects will support vegetation management projects scheduled for the next five years.”

This includes commercial logging and thinning with biomass production.

“It’s been really good working with the county road department,” she said. “We enjoy the partnership.”

Hickerson said Silvies Hopper Lane, which is an alternative connector to Highway 20, was rebuilt 23 years ago and with the new rebuild should last more than 30 years.

He said that without the funding they’ve received the repair work would not been possible.

Gilliam said the three-mile stretch of Silvies Hopper Lane has deteriorated.

Commenting on Keeney Fork Road, Hickerson said, “Keeney is used a lot year-round for getting wood, recreation, snowmobiling, mushroom picking and hunting — it’s half an hour from town and you can be in the woods.”

The road also leads to Magone Lake, a popular recreation destination.

“It’s been good to work with the Forest Service,” he said. “They’ve really helped us on this project. It’s huge benefit for us.”