WAITSBURG – The City of Waitsburg may be able to breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to keeping the timeline for replacement of the city’s Main Street Bridge on track for the summer of 2017, according to City Manager Randy Hinchliffe. He is hopeful that an anticipated nine-tenths of one percent sales tax grant of $100,000 from the Port of Walla Walla will bring the project back under budget.

City officials received an ugly surprise when bids for the demolition and replacement of the bridge were opened on Feb. 23. The lowest of 12 bids came in $95,000 over the engineer’s estimate f...