Road reconstruction starts in Quincy, almost done on Westshore Drive
MOSES LAKE — There is an old saying in road construction that there are two seasons, winter and construction. It is officially construction season in Quincy; a six-month project to upgrade Second Avenue Southwest began this week.
Construction crews will be rebuilding Second Avenue around Pioneer Elementary School and South Park from J Street Southeast to N Street Southeast. A section of Marginal Way is included too, from Second Avenue to Fourth Avenue Southeast.
Crews will be rebuilding the street and upgrading the stormwater system, replacing sidewalks and curbs where they exist and adding them where they don’t. Crosswalks will be added where they don’t exist now. Traffic diamonds or circles, called traffic calming measures, will be added at some intersections.
Quincy City Engineer Ariel Belino told Quincy City Council members Tuesday that sections of Second Avenue needed a rebuild.
“All the sidewalks there have been pushed up by the roots of the trees, and we need to put in a stormwater system,” he said.
Construction is scheduled to last through December, with intermittent traffic interruption as the project continues. Total cost is about $3.23 million.
While one Columbia Basin project is beginning, another one is approaching its end. Paving began earlier this week on a section of Westshore Drive west of Moses Lake.
About 2.1 miles of the road are being rebuilt, with upgraded subsurface drainage, new sidewalks and curbs. The project connects two sections of Westshore Drive that were previously rebuilt.
Crews were applying the asphalt to the new roadbed earlier this week, compacting it with rollers. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of the month. Total cost is about $3.63 million.
While the 2024 construction season was busy in North Central Washington, 2025 has been pretty quiet – so far. But a number of projects are being advertised for bids and others are planned as midsummer approaches.
Drivers who use State Route 282 through Ephrata should start planning for delays during construction of a roundabout at Nat Washington Way and SR 282. It’s part of the construction of the new Grant County Jail.
Ephrata City Administrator Ray Towry said during the Ephrata City Council meeting Wednesday that construction is tentatively scheduled to start July 21 and last through mid-September. How traffic will be handled at the intersection is still under discussion.
Adams County officials will open bids July 2 on the first phase of a project to upgrade Schoonover Road north of Ritzville.
Like some other local projects, the eight miles of Schoonover Road will be completely rebuilt, said Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger in an earlier interview. The old road surface will be torn up, the roadbed rebuilt with improved drainage, the road widened, and guardrails added where needed. First phase project cost is about $3.13 million.
Drivers traversing West Third Avenue and West Fourth Avenue in Moses Lake also should start preparing for delays as construction crews start adding a new layer of chip-seal. That’s a mixture of rock and oil that’s laid over the existing pavement.
Construction is projected to begin in mid-July. Sections of West Third, West Fourth and West Fifth avenues between South Pioneer Way and West Broadway Avenue will have a coat of chip-seal added, along with connecting streets between Holly and Chestnut streets. Sections of East Hill Avenue and East Wheeler Road also will be chip-sealed. A roundabout is planned for the intersection of Wheeler Road and Road L Northeast.
Traffic revisions are planned for most of the project area once the chip-sealing is finished. Sections of West Third, West Fourth and West Fifth avenues that are now two lanes in each direction will be reduced to one lane in each direction with a left turn lane added. Additional angled parking has been suggested as well.
Rollers compact newly laid asphalt on Westshore Drive west of Moses Lake.