Months-long project will tear up Richland intersection near busy roundabout
Traffic on Steptoe Street in Richland is about to get very complicated, very quickly.
A major construction project starts Monday uphill from the Steptoe roundabout off Highway 240 in Richland and will continue through summer.
A local property owner has begun preparations to convert the intersection at Steptoe and Tapteal Drive into a proper four-way crossing, with traffic lights. Work is set to start Feb. 2.
The ambitious project will realign Tapteal so that it hits Steptoe at a right angle.
Steptoe Street north of Gage Boulevard, on the border of Richland and Kennewick, carried more than 23,000 drivers and commuters daily, according to a 2024 traffic count by the Benton Franklin Council of Governments.
Adding to the complexity is a Port of Benton-owned railroad crossing on the same stretch of road.
The tracks are used by both BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad to serve customers in north Richland and will slice diagonally across the future intersection.
San Francisco-based Tapteal Properties is the developer for the project, which will enable it to develop commercial property it owns in the area.
It has nearly 23 acres to the west of Steptoe and controls another 14 acres to the east through a limited liability company. The land is west of the shopping area that includes the Macy’s and Ashley furniture stories and Kohl’s.
The company and a Spokane partner are currently building The Bob, an apartment project fronting Columbia Park Trail near the Steptoe Roundabout.
What to expect
There will be closures during daylight hours while crews extend utilities.
Major reconstruction begins in the spring and continues through summer as the new road and traffic intersection are constructed.
Motorists can expect lane closures as well as detours as the project advances.
In addition, the Port of Benton expects to close the entire street while it builds the newly widened railroad crossing later in the project.
The road alignment project is privately funded by the developer. Culbert Construction is the contractor.
Follow the progress at richlandwa.gov/SteptoeTapteal.