MOSES LAKE — An engineering firm presented its plans during a Thursday open house for a proposed Love’s Travel Stop off eastbound Interstate 90 near milepost 174, including major transportation improvements and modifications in that area.

The proposed project would include 75-80 spaces for overnight truck parking.

The transportation plan, presented by projects engineering firm SCJ Alliance, centered on three focus areas, including the on- and off-ramps to the interstate and surrounding roads. Taken together, they would heavily modify traffic in that area, streamlining the process of quickly getting on and off the freeway and encouraging a one-way loop around the Love’s facility for all other traffic.

The first focus area impacts the I-90 off-ramp. Pritchard Road, which runs parallel to the interstate and connects the on- and off-ramps currently, would be reduced from a two-way, two-lane road to a wider one-way, single-lane road running east. Traffic coming off the interstate would no longer have to stop and yield to traffic from Idaho Road, which intersects immediately after the off-ramp, to turn into the Love’s facility, SCJ Alliance Project Manager Brandon Johnson said Thursday.

The pavement of Pritchard Road would also be improved to increase the road’s durability under the increased loads from trucks.

The second focus area would further modify Idaho Road, this time where it intersects South Frontage Road Northwest, which lies further south from the interstate and runs parallel to Pritchard Road. Currently, eastbound traffic from South Frontage Road Northwest curves onto Idaho Road, while westbound traffic has to yield.

The Love’s Travel Stop plan would straighten South Frontage Road Northwest, making it easier for trucks to exit the Love’s facility from that road and get back onto Pritchard Road and then the interstate. Like with Pritchard Road, an SCJ Alliance representative said Thursday that South Frontage Road Northwest would be reinforced, though possibly less so depending on traffic estimates on that road.

Finally, the on-ramp to I-90 eastbound would be brought back around 1,000 feet, giving additional time for drivers to get up to speed.

Currently, drivers on Pritchard Road have to maintain the speed limit of 35 mph until they pass Laguna Road, leaving them relatively little time to get up to speed with freeway traffic traveling at 70 mph. Traffic from Laguna Road can also turn onto Pritchard Road at that intersection, leaving those drivers having to make up twice the speed with the same amount of distance.

To mitigate the potential that additional traffic from the Love’s Travel Stop could create traffic hazards on the on-ramp, project engineers recommended the additional 1,000 feet for drivers to get up to speed. This would cut off oncoming traffic from Laguna Road, which would become a one-way, southbound road, directing drivers who wanted to get onto the freeway to circumnavigate the Love’s facility and drive onto Pritchard Road from Idaho Road.

The cost of these improvements, including for related studies and consulting, is being paid by Love’s Travel Stop, in accordance with state and federal law, an SCJ representative said Thursday.

Currently, the goal is for construction to begin in spring 2021, Johnson said, though he added that the coronavirus pandemic could impact those plans. Otherwise, he said they hoped to open the doors of the facility by the tail end of 2021.

In addition to laying out the main focus areas of the Love’s facility’s transportation improvements, Johnson also took questions from community members about how Love’s would mitigate its impact to the surrounding community.

Several community members expressed concerns that the project, including changes to Laguna Road, would encourage trucks to drive through neighborhoods to the south. While Johnson acknowledged that some additional trucks may come down Sage Road, the project would be designed with signage to discourage truck drivers from driving down Sand Dune Road.

In response to other questions regarding diesel fumes from the site, Johnson said that “it’s a truck stop,” but that Love’s was one of the largest diesel companies in the country, that its technology was top-of-the-line, and that “we’re confident that it won’t be a concern.”

Another resident asked about the wetlands currently located on the site which would be occupied by Love’s; Johnson said that while some of the wetland area was being removed, they were working with federal agencies on mitigation.