RICHLAND -- Richland soon will embark on a nearly $3.5 million, yearlong project to widen Keene Road between Queensgate Drive and Tomich Avenue.
City officials said contractor Apollo Inc. is gearing up to start work in mid-September to expand the two-lane road to five lanes -- two lanes in each direction and a turn lane.
Richland Public Works Director Pete Rogalsky said the project is one of the last phases in a 15-year plan to widen the original two-lane county road to become a major arterial street for Richland and West Richland.
"We have way more activity and more urban activity and need more capacity," Rogalsky said. "This is the last piece to get widened."
The current project includes the widening and repaving of Keene, as well as a bridge over Interstate 182, installation of a sidewalk on the south side of Keene, a multi-use path on the north side of the road, a new traffic signal at Kennedy Road, and installing new water and sewer mains to support development and to replace aging lines in south Richland.
Rogalsky said the funding for the project comes from a mix of city, state and federal money.
Eventually the city also would like to improve and widen a railroad bridge to accommodate two lanes of traffic, but hasn't found the money for that phase, he said.
Drivers shouldn't be affected by construction in the beginning as work crews install utility lines next to the existing road, but Keene eventually will see some closures for the water line installation, Rogalsky said.
The ultimate goal is to improve traffic flow and safety, as well as to support development in south Richland, he said.
Roscoe Slade III, West Richland's public works director, said putting in four lanes on Keene Road between Tomich and Bombing Range Road has greatly aided development in the west end of the small, growing city.
A $2.6 million project completed about five years ago with a combination of state and local money straightened out the old part of Keene, connected it to the roundabout at Bombing Range, and to Highway 224.
That provided drivers with new ways to access West Richland, including opening up access to Red Mountain, Slade said.
"For us, that Keene Road extension was key to getting the Red Mountain Center started with Pacific Rim Winery and Black Heron Spirits," Slade said. "All of that occurred right after Keene Road was punched through."
Ruth Swain, West Richland's economic development director, said the city wouldn't have some of the development it's seen without having built the new section of Keene.
Slade said West Richland ultimately plans to extend Keene to connect with Twin Bridges Road, providing more direct access from West Richland to the Horn Rapids area in Richland and to Highway 240.
Richland's widening of Keene Road is expected to finish by September 2011.
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