BREMERTON — The City of Bremerton was awarded a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation for a Safe Routes to School project.

The grant, totaling $545,000, will fund the design and construction of sidewalks and crosswalk improvements near Crownhill Elementary, 1500 Rocky Point Road NW, Bremerton.

Jerry Hauth, managing engineer for the city, said that safe routes to school grants are competitive, and generally go to the most deserving areas regionally.

Hauth, who’s been with the city for about four months, said he’s not sure if other schools in the district have benefitted from these projects, but “this isn’t the last one we’d like to see it on.”

The grant will completely fund the project, and require no matching funds from the city.

Gus Garcia, project manager, said, “By and large, these projects tend to be very straightforward.”

“In a nutshell, we’re building sidewalks,” Garcia said. “Basically just opportunities to get people off the travel way or buffered from the travel way.”

Hauth added, “The sidewalk projects come with their own set of challenges, but it’s kind of a specific set of challenges to deal with.

“This should be pretty straightforward,” he went on. “Gus is very capable, and we’re getting a good start on this.”

The project is scheduled to be complete in August 2016.

Planning of the project started July 2015. Garcia said the design portion of the project should last into 2016, and construction should start after the 2015-16 school year ends, and be complete by the time the 2016-17 school year starts.

The $545,000 is allocated as following: $90,000 for preliminary engineering, $395,000 for construction and $60,000 for operations and services.