Highway repair season begins this week in Grant County
MOSES LAKE — Drivers can expect delays up to about 20 minutes on SR-17 and SR-282 between Moses Lake and Ephrata this week. Road work is scheduled for SR 28 between I-90 at George and Ephrata. It’s spring, which means it’s time for road construction.
“North Central Washington construction season begins Monday on Highway 17,” said Jeff Adamson, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation office in Wenatchee.
The region isn't slated for major replacement projects, at least not this spring. The work involves fixing existing pavement.
Construction crews have been sealing cracks on SR 282 in the city of Ephrata, from 1306 Basin St. (starting at Burger King) to the junction of SR-282 and SR-17 (about five miles southeast of town). “Rumble strips” (the corrugated pavement at the lane edges) are being installed along the road shoulders and plastic pavement markers are being removed.
Work will continue from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through March 29. “Expect flaggers directing single lane traffic, but only short delays,” Adamson wrote.
The work on SR-17 between Moses Lake and the SR 282 junction will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. “Expect less than 20-minute delays with flaggers and/or pilot car controlled traffic.”
The work includes adding a rumble strip both on the shoulder and down the center, from Patton Boulevard to the SR 17-SR 28 junction. Crews will be sealing cracks and taking out the plastic pavement markers.
The “pavement rehabilitation” work is scheduled for SR-28, SR-281 and SR-283.
State Route 28 gets crack-sealing and plastic pavement marker removal from Winchester to Ephrata, and a rumble strip along the shoulder from I-90 to Quincy. The work planned for SR 283 includes removing the plastic pavement markers, at least around its junction with SR-28.
Temperatures in the Grant County area should be warm enough that the materials (and the repairs) will stick, so the contractors are going to work in those areas first, Adamson said. For anybody driving north, SR-17 is slated for crack sealing and rumble strips all the way to Leahy Junction.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.