27-02-2025
Grant Co. road construction season starts March 10
Feb. 26—EPHRATA — A section of Westshore Drive is scheduled for a complete rebuild in 2025, and upgrades are planned for a section of Stratford Road. Westshore Drive construction begins March 10.
A pedestrian trail and traffic circles will be added in Desert Aire, and a third section of Drumheller Road will be graded. Those are among the road improvement projects scheduled for Grant County in 2025.
The work on Westshore Drive was originally planned for 2026, but Grant County Engineer David Bren said funding for the project became available sooner than expected.
"It's 2 miles of road on Westshore that is going to be reconstructed," Bren said. "Unfortunately, it'll be difficult for a while, but once it's all done it will be beautiful. But it will be difficult."
The section of Westshore Drive will be rebuilt, with the paving removed and the roadbed upgraded. Sidewalks, curbs and gutters will be installed. That may mean that section of the road has to be closed occasionally, he said.
"The contractor is going to do their best to keep one side (of the road) open, and then do all the work on one side, then go to the other side. But there are going to be points where it may be difficult to do everything on one side. You may have to cut across and (work on) both lanes," Bren said.
The Moses Lake School District planned to build a new elementary school at the intersection of Westshore Drive and Road 4 Northeast, a project that's still pending. Bren said the upgrades to Westshore are independent of the MLSD's plans.
"The choice to do the Westshore project was not predicated on there being an elementary school there. In fact, this project was already planned out, scoped out, and the grant was funded before (the proposed elementary school) being there," Bren said.
The sections of Westshore Drive immediately north and south of the construction zone already have been repaved and have sidewalks, he said. This project connects all those sections.
Total project cost is about $3.63 million. Construction is projected to take 70 working days, about late June.
The section of Stratford Road from Road 20 Northeast to the railroad crossing, about 3 miles, will be repaved. Originally, it was scheduled for 2026, but Bren said that was another case where funding changed the timetable.
"We've got to do Phase 3 before Phase 2, because of the funding (requirements) on Phase 3," Bren said. "We've got to get it done this year."
Project cost was not available.
Drumheller Road is not really a road, at least not yet. This will be the third year of what Bren called "rough grading" along the Drumheller Road corridor.
"Two years ago, we cleared the north end, about 4 miles. Then last year in October, we cleared the south end, about 3 miles," Bren said. "Phase 3 is clearing and grading of the center. It's about a mile, but it's the most difficult portion."
The Ice Age is still making its presence felt in that section, he said.
"There are a bunch of what are called glacial erratic," he said. "The glaciers pushed (the rocks) here, then they melted and all those big rocks fell down. Well guess what? A Bunch of them fell right there."
Drumheller connects Dodson Road with Hiawatha Road, providing an alternative route between Ephrata and Mae Valley.
"Hopefully, by the end of the year that will be done too. You'll have a 60-foot-wide, roughly graded corridor," Bren said. "Phase 4, we bring in more gravel — we've got to get it to the point where it's a decent gravel road," he said.
Eventually, Drumheller will get a chip-seal coating, he said, but completion is still a few years away.
Project cost was not available.
A pedestrian trail and traffic circles will be installed in Desert Aire along Desert Aire Drive. Both cars and pedestrians use Desert Aire Drive, and Bren said the goal is to separate them.
Project cost is about $340,000, with $294,100 coming from a federal grant.
The new trail will extend from the intersection at State Route 243 and Desert Aire Drive to the boat launch at the Columbia River. Along with the trail traffic circles will be added at five intersections.
Traffic circles have the same purpose as — but are not — roundabouts, Bren said. The goal is to slow down traffic. The traffic circles in Desert Aire will be designed so that commercial trucks can drive over the edges.
