MOSES LAKE — While road construction is on hold for the July 4 weekend, there’s still the potential for traffic slowdowns. 

“Heavy traffic everywhere,” according to a media release from the Washington Department of Transportation.  

Columbia Basin travelers, of course, will be most interested in the Vantage Bridge, and all four lanes will be open for the holiday weekend. And a big holiday it is – the U.S. is celebrating its 250th birthday.  

Even with all lanes open, traffic volumes are expected to be higher than usual on Friday, especially eastbound, and Sunday and Monday, especially westbound. Department of Transportation officials are recommending that people check the agency’s website and social media to get traffic updates.  

But construction work resumes once the party’s over, including on the Hansen Road overpass in Moses Lake. Demolition originally was scheduled to begin Tuesday, but Summer Derrey, communications consultant for WDOT’s South Central region, said that’s changed. 

“Demolition starts July 27,” Derrey wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald.  

While demolition is delayed, work will start Tuesday, and it will affect drivers on Interstate 90. 

“Starting next Tuesday, work will start with intermittent single lane closures,” Derrey said.  As a result, drivers will experience some slowdowns with traffic funneled into one lane.  

It’s no secret to local drivers, of course, that the overpass was closed in January when an inspection determined it extensively damaged, too damaged for continued use. Ultimately, Washington Department of Transportation officials opted to replace it with a new bridge, a project that’s scheduled for completion in December 2026 or January 2027.   

Drivers using the Alder Street Bridge – that's commonly known as the fill – should expect delays beginning July 13. That’s when construction begins on a new water main.   

“For most of the project, southbound traffic, heading into downtown Moses Lake, will be reduced to a single lane near the bridge,” according to a media release from city officials.  

The project will start with work underneath the bridge and outside the roadway in an effort to minimize traffic impacts, the release said. Crews will be working at night once construction moves to the roadway.  

“During those nighttime operations, both directions will be reduced to one lane near the bridge,” it said. 

Construction is scheduled for completion around Aug. 7, but that’s subject to change depending on the weather.  

While crews won’t be working on the new roundabout at the intersection of SR 17 and West Cunningham Road in Othello over the July 4 weekend, traffic controls will remain in place. There’s a temporary stoplight at the intersection, and there it will stay until the project is completed.  

There are detour routes with signs via Lee Road to the west of SR 17, Booker Road to the east, and SR 26 to the south for people who want to avoid the intersection.    

Yet another bridge in the region will require repairs, this one near Grand Coulee. Drivers should prepare for slowdowns, lane closures and delays at the Grand Coulee Bridge, with construction beginning July 13. Project completion is scheduled for Aug. 21. 

“Contractor crews will perform a temporary repair of the bridge’s expansion joints,” wrote Sebastian Moraga, WSDOT communications consultant. “They will remove existing asphalt and install steel plates to hold the bridge deck panels in place and prevent further damage. During the work, travelers will encounter temporary signals alternating traffic across the bridge,” 

Intermittent closures are planned later in the project, Moraga said.  “Hourlong nighttime closures are planned midway through the project,” he said. 

Estimated project cost is about $1 million.  

“The work is necessary because during a routine inspection, WSDOT engineers found the bridge’s expansion joints were malfunctioning,” he said. “(The department of transportation) is developing a more permanent rehabilitation of the bridge for summer 2027.” 

A repaving project on I-90 is about a month from completion, so drivers on the road overnight should prepare for delays on the east side of the Vantage Bridge. Crews are working on repaving sections of the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-90 between the bridge and George. 

“Work will occur from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday each week,” Moraga said. “Contractors will repave and restripe approximately 11 miles of I-90 to extend the service life of the pavement.”   

The projected completion is expected around Aug. 7. 

    Even over the July 4 weekend, the traffic light at the intersection of SR 17 and Othello Main Street will be directing traffic through the roundabout construction zone.
  

    The section of Stratford Road over the Alder Street fill will be subject to traffic controls beginning July 13.