Quincy roundabout opening delayed
The opening of the new roundabout at White Trail Road and State Route 28 will be delayed until June 26. Above, traffic navigates through the detour set up at that intersection which reduces the roadway to one lane that is managed by a portable traffic light system.
R. HANS MILLER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Traffic waits for the portable traffic light at the new roundabout at White Trail Road west of Quincy. The Washington State Department of Transportation has announced the roundabout will fully open June 26.
QUINCY — The opening of the new roundabout at the intersection of White Trail Road and State Route 28 has been delayed to June 26.
Lauren Loebsack, communications manager for the North Central region of the Washington Department of Transportation, said the plan was to open it June 14, but it was put off due to the need for repairs.
“The contractor needs to replace three cracked apron panels,” Loebsack wrote in an email to the Herald.
The repairs are scheduled for this week and will require traffic control at the intersection.
“That would mean setting up the detour again and it was concluded that could be confusing and cause issues for travelers, so the detour will remain in place until that repair,” she wrote.
Eastbound and westbound traffic has been, and is, allowed through the intersection, with the road reduced to one lane. Traffic is controlled with a temporary traffic light. White Trail Road is closed to north-south traffic through the intersection.
Originally there wasn’t a detour, but one was established via White Trail Road and Road 9 NW back to SR 28 near a DOT rest stop at the top of the ridge.
“Our team is reviewing the cause of the cracked panels with materials specialists to ensure we won’t face this issue again,” Loebsack wrote. “There are many factors that can cause this condition, including big temperature fluctuations while the materials are curing.”
Construction on the roundabout began in April and was projected to take about two and a half months. The project was delayed in early May when DOT workers discovered the central island was built in the wrong place - it was about four feet too far west. Reengineering would’ve delayed the project and might have pushed it outside the existing DOT right of way, Loebsack wrote in an earlier email. In light of that, DOT officials decided to tear out the original island and replace it.
Department of Transportation officials tentatively announced full reopening the week of June 12, but the need for repairs intervened.
Total project cost was estimated at about $2.8 million.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.
