The pain of Queensgate is nearly over. Come celebrate with pastries

There were detours — planned and unplanned. There were weekend closures and driving on rutted gravel and so. Much. Traffic.

Take heart Richland. The summer’s top road project ends this week.

After months of construction on Queensgate Drive, the $5 million project is almost done.

The Washington Department of Transportation will reopen the eastbound freeway interchange to traffic in both directions Wednesday morning.

Save for a few finishing touches and cleanup, Richland is ready to declare success. The city is celebrating at 10 a.m. Wednesday at 691 Windmill Road.

Naturally, there will be speeches, by officials at each level of government.

Better still, there will be pastries, from Ethos Bakery.

The pavement party marks the end of work that widened Queensgate between Interstate 182 and Keene Road, added bike and pedestrian amenities, and notably boosted the Tri-Cities’ already impressive inventory of roundabouts by two — at the eastbound freeway interchange and at Columbia Park Trail.

Coupled with the Duportail Bridge, now being built at the Yakima River, Queensgate’s upgrades are meant to better connect between Richland and its growing southern neighborhoods across the freeway.

Learn more at bit.ly/QueensgateCorridor

This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 4:42 PM.