ROAD REPORT: Westshore Dr. and Othello roundabout updates

MOSES LAKE — The rebuilding of a 2.1-mile section of Westshore Drive west of Moses Lake has reached the sidewalk stage. 

Curbs have been poured along the route and construction crews were adding a base layer for the sidewalks Thursday. A power shovel and front loader dumped rock along the sidewalk course, which was spread partly by the shovel and partly by hand. Once that’s done the material is compacted.  

The work is affecting travel on Westshore; a few drivers were using it on Thursday morning, negotiating around construction equipment. There are detours along Road E Northeast and Road F Northeast for most of the project’s length.  

The road itself was excavated and the old asphalt removed, and the rebuild has reached the stage of a completed base layer. The project began in early March and is scheduled for completion in mid-July. Total project cost is about $3.63 million.  

The sections of Westshore Drive immediately north and south of the construction zone have already been repaved and have sidewalks. This project connects the sections and gives Westshore sidewalks along most of its length. 

After some uncertainty, a roundabout will be coming to Othello this summer. 

“The roundabout at (state Route) 26 is a go,” wrote Sebastian Moraga, communications consultant for the Washington Department of Transportation, in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in early August and last two to three months, Moraga said. 

The roundabout will be at the intersection of SR 26 and South First Avenue in Othello. The existing intersection doesn’t allow traffic across SR 26, and access to State Route 24 requires a detour down East Wahluke Street.  

Ellen Guisfredi, DOT assistant project engineer, told Othello City Council members in December that the design takes into account the substantial truck traffic at that intersection. 

“It will have a fully mountable truck apron as a lot of heavy traffic and very large trucks come through this intersection,” she said. “It is designed for larger vehicles because of the large truck movement.” 

The project will affect drivers trying to access SR 26. 

“The majority of (traffic control) will be alternating one-lane traffic with temporary signals on state Route 26,” Guisfredi said. “We won’t be detouring highway traffic, but we will be detouring traffic that is on city and county roads. Any traffic attempting to enter (SR) 26 at this intersection will be directed to use detour (routes).”