The city of Enumclaw has received more than a half-million dollars that will be used during the coming year to provide Semanski Street motorists with a much smoother ride.

City Administrator Chris Searcy announced the news during the Nov. 25 meeting of the City Council. The state’s Transportation Improvement Board has awarded the city a $507,000 grant, Searcy said, to be used solely for work on Semanski.

The only catch is the city must provide $90,000 in matching funds. Searcy noted there is $105,000 set aside in next year’s budget to satisfy the TIB requirement.

The grant money will pay for an overlay of new pavement on Semanski Street from Elmont Avenue south to State Route 410.

While he was discussing cash coming the city’s way, Search noted the city has also been awarded a Community Development Block Grant in the sum of $97,000. The money will be used in 2014 to provide upgrades at McFarland Park. Specifically, the city plans to refurbish sidewalks and pathways in and around the park and take care of some “hazard trees” that are becoming a nuisance or a safety hazard.

Later in the meeting of the 25th, the council signed off on a project completed this year with TIB money that was originally issued in July 2012. The money was for sidewalk and paving improvements; the work began in July of this year and was completed in November.

A bid in the amount of nearly $658,000 was accepted so Hoffman Construction could improve sidewalks on Semanski Street, do pavement overlays on 244th Avenue Southeast and Battersby Avenue and improve both Kibler Avenue and Bailey Street.