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ROAD REPORT: Bids opening July 2 for Adams Co. Schoonover Road project

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 months AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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. | June 6, 2025 3:00 AM

Key points: 

  • Work starting to ramp up on road projects throughout the region. 
  • Schoonover Road project in Adams County should start in August.

OTHELLO — Bids will be opened July 2 for the first phase of the rebuilding of Schoonover Road, with construction tentatively scheduled for early August. The first phase is a section about eight miles north of Ritzville; among other things, Schoonover Road connects Ritzville and Odessa. 

“This is a reconstruction that is widening (the road), with a new subbase and surfacing with asphalt, drainage facilities and safety rail where needed,” said Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger in an earlier interview.  

“We’re very excited to get that going,” he said Tuesday.  

Schoonover Road is a multi-phase project; total cost for the first phase is about $3.13 million.  

A project to surface a section of Lind-Hatton Road in Adams County is entering its final phase. 

Yeager said guardrails will be installed next week in the project area, about five miles north of State Route 26 between South Damon Road and Phillips Road to the BNSF Railroad tracks. Repaving is scheduled to start June 12, with a second coat applied a week later, Yaeger said. 

Total project cost is about $3.12 million. 

People traveling on Highway 2 north of Wenatchee will encounter some delays between Leavenworth and Peshastin, beginning Monday.  

Traffic signal cameras and pedestrian safety upgrades will be installed at the intersection of Peshashtin’s main street and Highway 2. Contractors also will be working on the Wenatchee River bridge on Highway 2 in Leavenworth.  

The project is scheduled for a maximum of10 working weekdays, according to a press release from the Washington Department of Transportation. Crews will be working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Crews will be working the night of June 12-13 from 6:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.  

Some projects are ongoing, some getting close to conclusion and others continuing throughout the construction season. Crack-sealing is continuing on Moses Lake streets, as well as work on sidewalks and gutters on Westshore Road west of Moses Lake.  

A misunderstanding led to some confusion about the Vantage Bridge project, which – as cross-state drivers know – is continuing with one lane open in each direction in June. 

Originally the WSDOT announced all four lanes of the bridge would be open in June. Actually, traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction Monday through Friday throughout the month of June. All lanes will be open on weekends.   

Two lanes will be open in each direction over the July 4 weekend, July 3 through 8. But after July 8, the construction schedule shifts, Lott said, and one lane in each direction will be closed through the end of the construction season in November. The exception will be Labor Day weekend, Aug. 28 through Sept. 2, when both lanes will be open in each direction. 


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