Feds kick in $108M to finally finish widening dangerous Highway 12 after 22 years
The final two-lane stretch of Highway 12 will be upgraded to four lanes courtesy a federal grant.
Walla Walla County received $108.5 million to complete the eighth and final phase of a 22-year effort to transform the highway between the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla into four lanes.
The last stretch is a 10-mile section between Wallula and Nine Mile Canyon and handles about 17,000 vehicles per day.
It is heavily used by both tourists and workers who commute to Packaging Corporation of America, Tyson Beef, Tri-Cities Intermodal, Northwest Wine Services and other plants in the area.
The opening of an Amazon hub in Pasco just off the Highway 12 corridor is also contributing to the rise in traffic.
The grant is awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Surface Transportation Grant program. Funding is via the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Washington Democrats, announced the award. It is the largest awarded under the umbrella of the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program, they said.
The project will replace the two-lane undivided road with a four-lane one. Opposing drivers will be separated by a 42-foot median. Guardrails other safety features will be incorporated.
The Washington Department of Transportation began the four-lane project in 2003.
WSDOT expects to begin work on the final phase in 2027. In 2015, the Washington Legislature appropriated $22 million to design the Phase 8 project and acquire the right of way.
That work was paid for with through Connecting Washington, the 2015 transportation package that raised taxes on gas.
WSDOT anticipates the final phase will cost about $280 million.
The gap near Wallula is especially critical as the area is attracting attention from major industrial developers.
The Port of Walla Walla has agreements with at least four firms who collectively expect to invest nearly $9 billion at Wallula Gap Industrial Park, a 1,400 industrial park about 20 minutes east of Pasco.
The projects include:
- Rockwool North America, which will invest about $175 million in plant to melt basalt and spin it into building insulation
- Advance Phase LLC, the alias for a U.S. tech company that is buying 500 acres in the park for a $4.8 billion data center campus
- SkyNRG America, which will build a $1 billion plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel
- Project Energy Force, a $2.5 billion battery manufacturer.
The developments will add commercial traffic to the already busy highway.
“This grant couldn’t have come at a more important time as major manufacturing investments are being considered at the Wallula Gap Business Park,” Cantwell said in a press release announcing the award.
A four-lane, divided highway will accommodate increased traffic, to the benefit of industry and residents. Traffic along Highway 12 is expected to double by 2050, according to federal officials.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.