KENNEWICK -- The Washington State Department of Transportation hopes to ease congestion where Highway 240 meets Edison Street in Kennewick by adding a traffic signal at the top of the westbound off-ramp.
Corey Hert, assistant traffic engineer for DOT's South Central Region, said his eye is on that intersection because he knows traffic often backs up along the off-ramp and onto the highway.
But to make improvements, the department first has to justify the need by showing the intersection meets Federal Highway Administration criteria.
Then it has to find the money, and with the state facing an $8.3 billion or more revenue shortfall over the next two years, money is scarce, he said.
The department will start by measuring the traffic volume at the intersection to see if there's enough to meet federal criteria.
Hert said the department last counted traffic there in 2004, when the traffic volume was nearly high enough to warrant a signal to help move cars through the intersection.
The volume likely has grown since then, and Hert believes a signal may become an option.
Motorists likely would see a temporary signal -- constructed with timber poles and designed to last about five years -- until there's more money for a permanent signal with steel poles. A temporary signal costs about $70,000, compared with $250,000 to $300,000 for a permanent signal designed to last about 30 years, he said.
"It is an interim step toward a long-term solution," he said.
Finding even $70,000 for a project that isn't already on DOT's list could be challenging.
Melinda Warren, program manager for the South Central Region's Highway Construction Program, said all of the department's money right now is being spent to preserve the road system -- projects such as repaving and fixing bridges.
That need is so great that even about $340 million in federal stimulus money is going to preservation projects and to projects promised when the Legislature approved the nickel and 9.5-cent gas taxes in recent years.
That doesn't leave much for new projects or improvements, especially with the rising cost for asphalt, Warren said.
The department went from paying $355 per ton for liquid asphalt in January 2008 to paying $562 per ton in January 2009, she said.
On the flip side, the economic downturn has left road construction contractors competing aggressively for work, which means bids for state jobs have been coming in lower than expected, she said.
The 240/Edison intersection has been deemed by the department a top priority for a new traffic signal, so if there's any money to spend, it'll go there, Warren said.
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