The Issaquah City Council voted unanimously to accept a $3.4 million grant from the state transportation improvement board, which will set the East Lake Sammamish Parkway project in motion.

Sheldon Lynne, the city’s director of engineering, said there will be a series of public meetings to keep stakeholders informed on the project. This is one piece of a bigger puzzle called the North Issaquah Transportation Network Improvements.

This first project includes widening East Lake Sammamish Parkway from Southeast 56th Street to just north of Issaquah-Fall City Road, including sidewalks and capacity for bicyclists.

Lynne said 85 percent of the project will come from grants. With the acceptance of the state grant, Issaquah is now in a better position to get another $2 million grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC).

A previous PSRC grant of $975,000 helped fund the design, which is in its final stages.

In the event the city doesn’t get the $2 million grant, it can put the project on hold. The city will have to contribute either $3.1 million or $1.1 million toward the project depending on the $2 million grant. Construction would begin in 2015 if everything falls into place.

The other pieces of the overall project are a new road with a roundabout at 62nd Street and 221st Place Southeast, which will add another access to the Pickering Place retail area. Lynne said that will be in the planning stage while the East Lake Sammamish Parkway project is being built.

The new road will require fill and an arched culvert crossing over two creeks and wetlands. While that road is being built, the final phase of the project, the 56th Street/12th Avenue Northwest exchange, will be planned.

The total cost of the North Issaquah Transportation Network Improvements will be about $50 million, according to the city’s Finance Director, Diane Marcotte. The East Lake Sammamish Parkway project is $7.5 million of the entire project.