KENNEWICK — Tri-Cities motorists be warned: The Washington Department of Transportation has a new road construction project ready to disrupt local traffic in 2025.
The state is preparing to launch a $6.4 million rebuild of a stretch of Highway 240 between Stevens Drive and Hagen Road in Richland, about 1 1/2 miles east of the Horn Rapids Golf Course.
The result will mean a 4-mile detour around the aging two-lane highway used by thousands of Hanford nuclear site commuters.
The highway also feeds traffic across the Hanford reservation to the Vernita Bridge crossing of the Columbia River into Grant County.
In all, the reconstruction is expected to last 3 1/2 months.
WSDOT awarded the Richland corridor improvement contract last summer to Granite Construction of Yakima and now the work is about to begin.
Granite is to begin building a noise wall between the highway and Moon River RV Resort in February. Then in April, it will dig up the highway itself, weather conditions permitting.
Motorists will be routed around the construction site via Kingsgate Way, Battelle Boulevard near the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Stevens Drive.
All three will get fresh asphalt as needed to handle the increased traffic, say officials.
The current highway will be excavated. And once a new foundation is laid, it will be repaved with fresh asphalt.
The new stretch of Highway 240 will feature wider lanes, pedestrian crossings, new street lights and traffic signals.
Railroad crossing
The Port of Benton will take advantage of the state road project to upgrade a bumpy railroad crossing near the intersection of Stevens Drive and Highway 240.
At a special meeting on Monday, Jan. 6, the port’s elected commissioners awarded a $1.6 million contract to Stacy Witbeck of Portland to rebuild the White Bluffs crossing.
It is expected to begin work in April to smooth the rail crossing for vehicles.
The railroad work is funded with an $865,000 grant from WSDOT and port funds.
