Moses Lake to get big roundabout

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake is going to get another roundabout.

A big one, this time, as the Washington State Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans for the intersection of state Route 17 and Grape Drive.

According to Lauren Loebsack, a spokesperson for WSDOT in Wenatchee, planning work on the new roundabout has already begun, with WSDOT aiming for construction sometime in 2022.

“The work orders have just been written” for design and engineering, she said.

The state has set aside $2.3 million for the project, but the final cost will depend on how much engineering and construction work need to be done to turn the intersection into a roundabout, Loebsack explained.

“That intersection has got a lot of lanes,” Loebsack said.

WSDOT traffic engineer David Kieninger told the CBH that even with four-way signals and turn lanes, the SR-17 and Grape Drive intersection “has a high accident rate.”

The matter came up at an Ephrata City Council meeting last Wednesday after council members asked WSDOT engineers Kieninger and Ethan Rhodes about the size of the proposed roundabout at Route 282 and Nat Washington Way.

“Will it be like Dodson but bigger?” asked Ephrata Mayor Bruce Reim.

Kieninger replied that it would likely be bigger, but not as big as the planned “two-lane roundabout at SR-17 and Grape Drive in Moses Lake.”

Both Rhodes and Kieninger explained that WSDOT has a computer program that analyzes accident rates at crossroads and intersections across the state. Those with higher accident rates get slated for safety improvements — turn lanes, stoplights or roundabouts.

State transportation engineers say roundabouts are easier to maintain and construct than four-way lights and are better at preventing accidents even if drivers don’t know how to properly traverse them.

“You can do the wrong thing and still avoid accidents,” Kieninger said of roundabouts after the meeting in Ephrata.

Officials with the city of Moses Lake said they knew about the project but had nothing to say about it right now.

Fred Snoderly, the city’s municipal services director, said the city doesn’t weigh in on WSDOT projects until such time as something would affect the city or until WSDOT solicits city input.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].