Roadwork coming to Ephrata, Quincy, Moses Lake

EPHRATA — Drivers in Ephrata should be prepared for delays next week as construction crews work on chip-sealing streets around town. Ephrata City Clerk Rob Miller said crews will be working from June 29 to July 2. 

Ephrata City Engineer Shawn O’Brien said sections of two streets near the Ephrata Municipal Airport, Airport Street and Railroad Street, are on the project list.  

“The project will consist of sweeping and cleaning the streets prior to placing a single shot of oil and rock chips. Within a day or two, sweepers will remove the excess chips. A fog seal will be applied approximately one week later, then pavement markings will be placed at the end,” O’Brien wrote in response to questions from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

Both Alder Street Southwest and a section of Alder Street Northwest will be getting resurfaced, extending from the intersection at State Route 28 to the intersection with Nat Washington Way. 

 Work is scheduled for sections of A Street Southeast and Third Avenue Northeast. 

In addition to a new seal coat, sections of First Avenue Northwest will be reconfigured to add bike lanes and more parking spaces, O’Brien said. Bike lanes and parking also will be added to sections of Frey Road, which turns into Fourth Avenue Northwest at the intersection with Ephrata High School. 

Construction is scheduled to begin next Monday on a major project in Quincy, where A Street Northeast will get a complete rebuild. That’s also the case with a section of Jackrabbit Way, a project that’s scheduled for mid-July.  

“We’re closing Third Avenue Northeast at the intersection of A (Street Northeast), and we’re probably closing Jackrabbit Street from Sixth Avenue all the way to Columbia Way,” said Quincy City Engineer Ariel Belino.  

A section of Quincy’s A Street Northeast will be repaved, with sidewalks added on one side of the street and a guardrail between the street and the train tracks on the other side. The work on Jackrabbit Street will include improvements from Quincy High School east to Columbia Way, with the road widened and sidewalks, curb and gutters and infrastructure upgrades.   

The ongoing construction of a roundabout at the intersection of State Route 17 and West Cunningham Road in Othello appears to have reached the halfway point. The section in the northbound lane is almost complete, along with the curbs that direct traffic in and out.  

There’s 24-hour traffic control at the intersection in the form of a temporary stoplight. That will be in place until the project is completed, which is scheduled for mid-July. Construction crews are working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.  

Moses Lake drivers will get in on all the construction fun in early July, when demolition begins on the existing Hansen Road bridge on Interstate 90.  

It’s no secret to local drivers, of course, that the overpass was closed in January when an inspection determined it extensively damaged, too damaged for continued use. Ultimately, Washington Department of Transportation officials opted to replace it with a new bridge, a project that’s scheduled for completion in December 2026 or January 2027.  

A construction schedule for the overpass has not yet been announced.