Roundabout coming to S.R.17 at Yonezawa Blvd.

MOSES LAKE — While it’s not on the list of the city of Moses Lake’s proposed six-year street improvement projects, it’s almost certain that the intersection of S.R. 17 and Yonezawa Boulevard is going to become a roundabout.

“The roundabout is a requirement from the state to be able to break access on Highway 17 to the east,” wrote City Engineer Richard Law in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “(The) city is currently working on financing options and grant funding to complete the design this fall/winter. Construction schedule is dependent on securing financing for the project.”

The city needs to break the intersection as part of a proposed $4 million extension of Yonezawa Boulevard East, which will connect with Moses Lake Avenue near Groff Elementary School and open up that large undeveloped portion east of S.R.17 and within the city limits for development.

That project is one of eight listed on the city’s six-year transportation improvement plan for 2023-24, which was approved by the Moses Lake City Council at its June 14 meeting. The plan is required under state law as part of the city’s overall comprehensive plan and allows the city to seek state and federal funding to assist with construction.

“The plan is an implementation plan for the city’s development goals,” wrote City Manager Allison Williams. “The needs are developed by staff and reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council. The public is welcome to comment during the annual public hearing prior to the final adoption by the city council.”

In addition to the extension of Yonezawa Boulevard East, the 2023-24 portion of the plan includes traffic studies of intersections at Wheeler Road and Road L, Division Street and Nelson Road for $50,000 each; a major study of downtown traffic patterns expected to cost $100,000; a study of the Wheeler Road corridor from S.R.17 to Road N; and the reduction of Hill Avenue from four lanes to three to facilitate the creation of bike lanes and dedicated parking lanes. The cost of the Hill Avenue revisions will be included in the city’s annual chip and crack seal program, according to the plan, which is budgeted at $1 million in 2022.

Law said the city is planning on a short extension of Yonezawa Boulevard to Moses Lake Avenue in order to improve vehicle access to Groff Elementary School, with any further extension paid for by property developers. However, he added, the city does envision at some point that Yonezawa will extend all the way to Road L.

“An east/west connection that would eventually connect to Road L would need to be provided by developers of those properties,” he wrote.

Law wrote the city developed its traffic study list for 2023-24 based on citizen comments and the record of crash histories. The city hopes to get better data to figure out what improvements could make those intersections safer and how much those improvements would cost, he said.

For the 2025-28 period included in the plan, the city is looking at the possibility of a traffic light at S.R.17 and Randolph Road, which is outside the city limits but within the Moses Lake urban growth area. However, the city owns neither of those streets, and the Port of Moses Lake is looking at that intersection as the site of a major future commercial development discussed in a recent Port meeting.

“The Port would be invited to provide data for any possible study,” Law wrote.

Further out, on its overall wish list for future transportation projects, the city has included a second vehicle bridge crossing Moses Lake which it estimates will cost around $42 million.

At the June 14 city council meeting, Jim Warjone, an attorney for Moses Lake property developer ASPI Group, expressed concern that the group’s preferred second crossing route — an extension of Hiawatha Road across the Rocky Ford Arm of Moses Lake to connect with S.R.17 west of the Grant County International Airport — was not on the city’s list. Warjone told members of the city council that route would allow heavy truck traffic to bypass downtown Moses Lake. As a result, he said, there may be different state and federal funding options to cover the cost.

In his email, however, Law wrote the city didn’t put that route on its list because it’s well outside both the city limits and the UGA.

“The city would gladly support any efforts there. However, this will take a regional effort including an updated study of alternatives in order to get traction for state or federal funding that would be needed to complete a facility,” Law wrote.

The city, rather, is looking at extending Road 4 from Mae Valley across the lake into Cascade Valley, where it could connect to Valley Road, Law wrote.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.

For 2023-24, the six-year plan also includes:

• Intersection control study at Wheeler Road and Road L, $50,000

• Intersection control study at Division Street and Nelson Road, $50,000

• Wheeler Road corridor study from S.R.17 to Road N NE, which includes looking at curb, ramp, sidewalk and walking/biking path, $50,000

• Downtown road circulation study, $100,000

• Extend Yonezawa Boulevard east from S.R.17 to connect to Moses Lake Avenue, $4 million

• Reduce Hill Avenue from four lanes to three by adding on-street parking and bicycle lanes, cost included in the city’s 2023-24 chip and seal program.

For 2025-28, the six-year plan includes:

• Traffic study of E. Broadway Avenue, $100,000

• Intersection control study at S.R.17 and Stratford Road, $50,000

• Improvements to intersection of Broadway Avenue and Stratford Road including addition of a protected right-turn lane for west-bound Broadway onto north-bound Stratford and revision of traffic signal timing, $75,000

• Add a traffic signal at intersection of S.R.17 and Randolph Road, $1 million

• Improvements to gateway of E. Broadway Avenue and Marina Drive, $500,000

• Improvements to city portion of Westshore Drive at I-90 exit 175, $1 million

• Addition of curbs, sidewalk and separated shared-use path along Wheeler Road from S.R.17 to Road N, $2 million

For unspecified dates, the six-year plan includes:

• Revitalization and redevelopment of E. Broadway Avenue, including landscaping and the creation of a special tax district to fund redevelopment, no estimated cost.

• A second bridge across Moses Lake, $42 million

• Separate bike lanes on wide roads, no estimated cost.

• Reconstruction of Nelson Road, no estimated cost.

• Development of a walking path and bike trail from Big Bend Community College to the intersection of Stratford Road and S.R.17, $2.8 million

• Acquire the right-of-way for the Columbia Railroad tracks going through downtown Moses Lake, $2 million

• Pedestrian bridge across Moses Lake at Dogwood, no estimated cost

• Improve safety on Stratford Road bridge, no estimated cost.

• New trail from Montlake Park to W. Lakeshore Drive, no estimated cost

• Connect Power Point Park to Division Street and Montlake Park, no estimated cost

• Develop dedicated trail along southside of Three Ponds Wetland Park, no estimated cost

• Convert alleys into pedestrian corridors, no estimated cost