State Route 17 widening now official

Two weeks until wall is completed

MOSES LAKE - Nearly 50 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the anticipated completion of the state Route 17 widening project Monday morning.

Regional Administrator for the North Central Region of the Washington State Department of Transportation Don Senn opened the ribbon cutting ceremony.

He said the widening project spanning approximately three miles from Pioneer Way to Stratford Road took several years to culminate.

In 2001, former Gov. Gary Locke listed the project among six top priority projects across the state, Senn said. From that point, it continued to move forward.

Senn read a proclamation written by Gov. Chris Gregoire for the ceremony.

The governor advised the noise wall is expected to be complete within the next two weeks. Gregoire noted without the expansion by 2020, vehicles would be able to travel no more than 15 m.p.h. on the highway due to traffic congestion.

Former state Sen. Joyce Mulliken said the widening project was also needed for safety reasons.

"More lives are lost on two-lane highways with head-on collisions," she said.

A second lane was added in both directions to relieve future congestion. A barrier was placed down the center of the highway separating oncoming vehicles and stopping them from traveling across lanes to prevent accidents. Improved signals were also installed.

Mulliken said the expansion will help accommodate the future growth of Moses Lake.

She hopes the four-lane highway will eventually extend to Ephrata and to state Route 395.

"The icing on the cake was that a local construction company was awarded the bid," Mulliken said.

The bid was awarded to Central Washington Asphalt Inc., in August, 2006 and provided numerous local jobs, she said.

The $17.7 million project was partially funded by the statewide gas tax.