White Trail roundabout may open next week

QUINCY — The new roundabout at White Trail Road and State Route 28 could be ready for traffic by next week and possibly by tomorrow, although that’s less likely.

“Looks like we could see the intersection open by early next week, with a couple of days of flagging to add permanent striping after the materials have set,” wrote Lauren Loebsack, communications manager for the North Central region of the Washington Department of Transportation, in answer to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald.

“The intersection could open by Friday but likely early next week,” she wrote Tuesday.

The WSDOT will issue a travel advisory when an opening date is established, she added.

Total project cost was projected at about $2.8 million.

Construction began in April and was projected to take about two and a half months. The project will finish about on schedule even with a delay caused by the need to remove and rebuild the concrete center island. The problem was discovered in early May.

Loebsack wrote in an earlier email that the island was out of position.

“As it was initially built, the north-south line of the intersection with White Trail Road was too far to the west,” she wrote.

One of the options was to leave the island in place and rework the roadway, but that, among other things, would’ve pushed the roadway outside the DOT right of way, she wrote. Reengineering the project would’ve caused significant delays, so tearing out the island and rebuilding it in the right place was determined to be the most efficient solution.

The new roundabout is a single lane in each direction, and is designed to reduce the potential for serious accidents at the intersection. White Trail Road often is used by drivers going to and from Wenatchee to bypass downtown Quincy.

East-west traffic is allowed during construction, but White Trail Road, the north-south route, is closed. A detour was established connecting SR 28 with White Trail Road.