SR 17 & SR 282 Widening Project

Situation
Traffic has increased significantly in recent years on SR 17 and SR 282 between Moses Lake and Ephrata. Employers, residents, commuters, and local governments in both communities all agree they have “outgrown” the existing two-lane highway and need a four-lane highway to improve safety, efficiency, and ease of transportation. Using funding provided by the Washington State Legislature, WSDOT's North Central Region initiated a project to evaluate the feasibility of widening the existing SR 17/SR282 corridor to four lanes.

Process
Triangle’s role on the project team led by David Evans Associates was to conduct stakeholder interviews and to develop and implement a public information/public involvement program. Public outreach to date has consisted of two rounds of public open houses in Moses Lake and in Ephrata. The open houses were advertised in paid ads in the Columbia Basin Herald and Grant County Journal as well as in the Spanish-language edition of the Little Nickel (Hispanos Unidos). In advance of both rounds of meetings, bi-lingual fliers were developed and mailed to 4500 households and business in the project area; they were also placed on Grant County Transit buses, and sent to local churches with Spanish-speaking congregations. The fliers were also sent electronically to organizations to distribute to their members (local Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations) The second round of open houses were also advertised on two Spanish-language radio stations in the project area as well as more traditional media. Triangle has kept a log of all of the public comments so the project team can address citizen concerns as the project proceeds.

Results
The public provided valuable input for the design of the future widening of SR 17 & SR 282. Project results will be reported when the effort is completed.