Installation of new Road L NE roundabout set for spring
Sections of Road L Northeast will be closed during installation of a new roundabout at its intersection with East Wheeler Road.
SOURCE: CITY OF MOSES LAKE
MOSES LAKE — The final phase of traffic upgrades and revisions along East Wheeler Road is scheduled for February or early March. The installation of a new roundabout at Road L Northeast will require some detours, said Levi Bisnett, project supervisor for Moses Lake Public Works.
“We anticipate a start date, possibly as early as February this year, weather permitting,” Bisnett said. “And if not February, definitely March.”
Bisnett estimated the project would take up to 12 days.
It’s the last phase of a 2025 project that included resurfacing a portion of East Wheeler Road and reconfiguring sections from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction with a left-turn lane. Construction of the roundabout was deferred until 2026.
The roundabout will be one lane in each direction.
Bisnett said East Wheeler Road will remain open, but sections of Road L Northeast will be closed to through traffic.
The closure north of Wheeler Road will extend to Debonair Street Northeast. The area can be accessed from Ball Road Northeast. South of Wheeler, Road L will be closed to the Guarding Angels Cemetery, 2595 Road L NE. People will still be able to access the cemetery from the south, Bisnett said. Road L Northeast has intersections with East Nelson Road and Kittleson Road Northeast, which will be the detours for people driving south, he said.
Drivers coming from the south who don’t want to go through town can access Wheeler Road from Road N Northeast, via Kittleson and Frontage Road, Bisnett said.
Drivers on Wheeler will have a speed limit of 15 miles per hour in the construction zone. Gonzalez Underground, Davenport, is the contractor.
Like all roundabouts, drivers will have to make some adjustments once it’s installed, Bisnett said. The existing configuration has a stop sign on Road L, but once the roundabout is installed drivers on Wheeler will need to yield to cars in the roundabout.
“It’ll be a little bit different, but it’ll be smoother and safer,” he said.
Wheeler Road is home to a number of industrial businesses, but Bisnett said there’s relatively little truck traffic at that intersection. The nature of the businesses along Wheeler Road means the intersection is very busy in the morning and afternoon as people are going to from work, he said.