Progress continues at Ninth and Gettman Road, part of the Hermiston?School?District’s $69.9 million bond project.

“Things are rockin’ and rollin,’ we’re about a quarter of the way finished with the extension of the sewer line,” said Wade Smith, Hermiston School?District assistant superintendent of human resources.

The project’s subcontractor, Swaggart Brothers of Hermiston, is digging down to the sewer line on the Hermiston side to extend it to where the new Armand Larive Middle School will be located.

Cindy Griffith, who lives right next to the site off Olive Street, said things have been going well so far.

“Once they’re done we’ll figure out what type of fence we’ll put in,” she said.

Griffith said she and her neighbors’ only concern has been about traffic, but said the district has made it so cars will not use nearby connecting streets like Angus.

Rich Barger of Chervenell Construction said things are going fine. Residents living near the site are happy with how things are progressing.

One thing that pleased residents was Chervenell and Swaggart Brothers were able to save some trees that are barely off the city property. The roots or limbs either went under or above the new road.

“We just trimmed them back so they’ll survive,” Barger said.

Barger said once the sewer line work is completed, the rest of the new school’s utilities will be laid down.

Smith said Swaggart Brothers will put the rock base for the new road down tentatively on Sept. 20.

Smith said the district has also worked with the city of Hermiston to come up with the best concentration of asphalt and rock base for the new roads.

“The city had asked for a two-inch layer of asphalt and a six-inch base,” Smith said. “The other streets (in the city) are standard three inches of asphalt with a nine-inch base.”

To see a live progress of the work on Ninth and Gettman to http://www.hermiston.k12.or.us/middleschool, on the Hermiston School District’s Web site.