It will be another bumpy ride to this Franklin County recreational area
Thousands of off-roaders will bump down the same rough, dusty road they've traveled for years to reach Juniper Dunes this holiday weekend.
But next Memorial Day, it will be a much smoother ride from the Pasco-Kahlotus highway to the nearly 4,000-acre recreational area.
After years of planning and debate, construction is to begin this summer on a 4.2-mile paved road to the popular Franklin County destination.
The 19,600-acre Juniper Dunes area, which contains some of the state's larger sand dunes and a juniper forest, is owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
A 7,100-acre wilderness area is off-limits to motorists, but the rest is popular with off-road enthusiasts.
It's about 18 miles northeast of Pasco, and for years, the main access was from a two-mile private road.
County and federal officials have worked out the plan and found the money to build a new road using a different route.
The project, estimated to cost about $3.8 million, is being paid for by Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Highway Administration and Franklin County.
Franklin County is getting the last of the land rights to build the road, and construction could take up to five months, said Lindsey Babcock, a field office manager for the Spokane District of the Bureau of Land Management.
It would replace Peterson Road, the private road was in such bad shape in 2015 that it was expected to cost the same to fix it as to replace it, according to the county.
The road was closed several times by landowners between 2001 and 2007 after their property was damaged by passersby. This cut access off to the entire dunes area.
It took a while to collect the final approvals of the property owners along the path of the road, County Administrator Keith Johnson said.
Daniel Guillen is excited about what the new access could mean for traffic into the dunes.
The Midnite Mudders Sergeant at Arms has been going there for more than 15 years, and his club routinely picks up the garbage left behind by others.
"In my personal opinion, it's going to be a great thing," he said. "The more people out there the better it is for the economy."
Other off-roading groups have supported a new road.
People are already arriving in RVs with plans to spend at least part of the long holiday weekend at the wilderness area, Guillen said.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office expects to increase patrols during the long weekend.
"Memorial Day weekend at the Juniper Dunes recreation area has traditionally been a very busy weekend with thousands of outdoor enthusiasts from all over the Northwest coming to the area," said Sheriff Jim Raymond.
The Pasco and West Richland police, and the Benton and Adams county sheriff's offices will help with increased patrols.
People using the off-highway vehicle areas, should make sure they have an antenna flag installed to improve visibility and to make sure they haul out any trash they bring in, said officials.
This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 3:23 PM with the headline "It will be another bumpy ride to this Franklin County recreational area."