Traffic study approved for Quincy’s 13th Avenue
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 6 months AGO
Quincy City Administrator Pat Haley, right, talks about the proposed Q-Plex project during the George City Council meeting Tuesday. The proposed park district would include both George and Quincy.
Gabriel Davis/Columbia Basin Herald
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 19, 2023 7:09 PM
QUINCY — A contract to study traffic patterns and traffic volume on 13th Avenue Southwest, the first step in possibly widening it, was approved by the Quincy City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday. The contract for about $393,000 was awarded to Transportation Engineering Northwest, Bellevue.
The vote was 4-0. Council member Dave Dormier recused himself from the discussion, saying he has worked with Transportation Engineering Northwest on other projects.
The engineers will look at traffic from the intersection of 13th Avenue with SR 28 to Road 9 Northwest. The street provides access to Monument Elementary School and Quincy Innovation Academy as well as Lauzier Park. Quincy city officials are planning improvements to Lauzier Park, and among the possibilities is the proposed indoor sports facility called the Q-Plex.
Council members also approved a revised proposal for a Quincy Valley Regional Parks District, which will be on the November general election ballot. Money raised through the district would help pay for construction of the Q-Plex and a new swimming pool, and help pay for their maintenance.
The traffic study will look at two intersections on 13th Avenue Southwest at peak times in the morning and afternoon. The engineers will look at the existing road and who’s using it, and make some estimates of future use. The company will oversee the project, including design.
City officials want to widen the road, make stormwater improvements and possibly realign it. They also want to add a sidewalk or walking path.
The Q-Plex facility is designed to provide recreation opportunities year-round, and could keep 13th Avenue busy. The facility would be 143,000 square feet and would have enough room for two to four soccer fields, depending on the number of players, and could be configured for other sports and events. There also would be two basketball courts that could be configured for other activities, sports and otherwise.
The boundaries of the new recreation district, if it’s approved, would be the same as the Quincy School District. The school district includes a small section of Douglas County, which was left out of the original resolution. The revised resolution passed Tuesday includes that.
The proposal must be approved by the Grant County and Douglas County commissioners before it can be placed on the ballot. George City Council members approved it on a unanimous vote at their meeting Tuesday (see separate story).
If the regional parks district is formed, property owners would pay a maximum of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. If it’s approved, it would be operated by a separate board with representatives from Quincy, George and Grant and Douglas counties.
Quincy City Administrator Pat Haley said in an earlier interview that money raised through the parks district must be used for specific projects, which would be the Q-Plex and the swimming pool. The estimated cost of the Q-Plex is about $18 to $20 million.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
One infrastructure project complete, others planned for Royal City
ROYAL CITY — Cross one long, long project off the list. The last section of old water line in Royal City was replaced in 2024, wrapping up a project that Mayor Michael Christensen said took a while. “Over the years we’ve been trying to upgrade our water system, and now the entire city is upgraded,” Christensen said. “That was a long time coming and it was a bit of a task.”
2024 projects, challenges continuing into 2025 in Quincy
QUINCY — Accommodating growth and upgrading infrastructure were the big challenges facing the city of Quincy in 2024, and they’re the challenges going into 2025. Quincy City Administrator Pat Haley said the city’s water and wastewater treatment facilities have been, and will continue to be, at the top of the agenda. “(Evaluating) what’s required in terms of growth and upgrades. Our facilities are aged, or at capacity, and that’s probably true for those cities of our size or communities that are growing,” Haley said. “So, we’re still pretty aggressively working on those things.”
Othello Public Works set for a busy 2025
OTHELLO — Some long-term projects in Othello reached completion in 2024, and there’s a whole list of new projects planned for 2025. Public Works Director Robin Adolphsen summed it up. “There’s a lot going on,” she said. Summer 2024 saw the completion of a project that was first considered in 2019, the opening of the new Iron Horse playground in Lions Park. Most of the project was paid for with grants the city received from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office and a capital appropriation from the Washington Legislature.