Grape Dr. roundabout nears completion

MOSES LAKE — Construction of the roughly $2.3 million roundabout at State Route 17 and Grape Drive is scheduled for completion this week.

“Crews will return later in the fall for beautification work,” wrote Justin Hammond, engineer on the project for the Washington State Department of Transportation, in response to an emailed question from the Columbia Basin Herald.

“The project is moving forward and there haven’t been any holdups,” Hammond wrote. “Work was paused during the week of the (Grant County) Fair. Since then there has been a lot of ‘invisible’ work happening outside the roadway on items like sidewalk and electrical systems.”

As of Friday, most but not all of the sidewalks have been completed. Some but not all of the road has been paved. The two lanes on SR 17 are partially open.

The roundabout itself has a pile of rocks in the middle, and those will stay where they are. Hammond wrote and added that the rocks have a purpose.

“The mound of rocks in the center is actually working as intended to limit visibility. The idea is that the driver entering the roundabout shouldn’t need to see any vehicles beyond the mound, since they only need to check their left side for vehicles to yield to,” Hammond wrote. “Any car making a left turn would be traveling slow enough that the entering driver won’t have a conflict.”

The roundabout replaces the traffic light at the intersection. When completed it will have two lanes in each direction on SR 17 and one lane in each direction on Grape Drive.

Two roundabouts are tentatively planned for the region in 2023, one at the intersection of White Trail Road and State Route 28 west of Quincy, and one at SR 17 and Cunningham Road at the entrance to Othello.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.