Herman Road construction scheduled for July

OTHELLO — The intersection of West Herman Road and State Route 17 will be getting some safety upgrades later this summer. The Adams County Commissioners awarded a $1.6 million contract for upgrades to the intersection Tuesday. 

Adams County Public Works Director Troy Reynolds said the intersection will be resurfaced for about two miles east of the intersection. The project also includes rumble strips on the shoulder, new signs and intersection improvements.  

The work is scheduled to start in July and should be completed in the fall, he said.  

Commissioners also authorized a call for bids to rebuild the Sackman Road Bridge over East Low Canal north of Othello. Commissioners originally advertised for bids last fall but had to reject all of them due to time constraints, said Adams County Engineer Scott Yeager during the commission meeting. A federal judge ruled the existing rules for awarding contracts were invalid, and the commissioners had to reject all bids as a result. The construction timeline meant it had to be pushed back to fall 2026.  

The work is scheduled to start in October because the irrigation season determines the construction season. Project completion is projected for April 2027. 

Total project cost. is about $4.52 million, with about $3.88 million coming from the federal government.  

Sackman Road is one of six bridges in Adams County that will have to be rebuilt to accommodate widening of the East Low Canal. Widening the canal would allow surface water to be delivered to farmers in sections of Adams and Grant counties that now rely on groundwater. Irrigators in that section have been using groundwater wells since the 1960s when the development of the overall Columbia Basin project stopped, which puts pressure on the underlying aquifer.