Hansen Road bridge demolition set to start Monday

MOSES LAKE — Like the London bridge – only not as picturesque – the Hanson Road bridge is coming down.  

“We’re starting (demolition) on Monday,” said Summer Derrey, public information officer for the Washington Department of Transportation North Central region.  

That will, of course, require working directly over Interstate 90, and drivers should prepare for the traffic impacts. Both westbound lanes will be closed, Derrey said, but one eastbound lane will stay open.  

“Eastbound traffic will be reduced to a single lane along I-90 and shifted onto the westbound lanes via a median crossover at Hansen Road,” Derrey wrote in a WSDOT press release.  

Westbound drivers will use the offramp and onramp at Hansen Road, which is designated as exit 174. The eastbound offramp at Hansen Road will be inaccessible during demolition.  Drivers heading eastbound who want to access the south side of the freeway – say, on their way to the Moses Lake Sand Dunes – will use the Hiawatha Road exit and North Frontage Road.  

Some traffic restrictions will continue once the demolition is completed. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction around the bridge, and speeds will be reduced in the construction zone. The lane closures stay in place through the duration of the project, which is scheduled for completion in late 2026.  

Construction crews working on a project at the Alder Street Bridge will be working at night until it’s completed. While it’s not a traffic project, it has a traffic impact, with one lane closed in each direction while crews are onsite.  

Crews will be working from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily. They are replacing an aging waterline embedded in the bridge, which requires removing the guardrail on the west side. As with all construction work, it’s going to be noisy, according to a media release from Moses Lake city officials.  

“Those in the area may hear noises from heavy equipment, generators, excavators, vehicles with back-up alarms (and other things),” the city release said.  

Chip-sealing is underway on sections of SR 281, the primary route from Quincy to George. Sebastian Moraga, communications consultant with the WSDOT North Central region, said chip-sealing work also is underway on sections of SR 17 south of Moses Lake.  

“The chip seal project is expected to be done in September,” Moraga wrote in answer to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

    Construction crews have shifted to night work on a project impacting traffic on the Alder Street Bridge in Moses Lake.