Tri-City pedestrians and cyclists are largely in agreement that one of the most difficult crossings in our community is the cloverleaf going over State Route 240 just north of Columbia Center. Recognizing this, the Washington State Department of Transportation is looking at ways to make this crossing safer for walkers and cyclists. They have a (very) small pot of funding to do this, and are now considering a number of options, all of which were discussed at a March 19th , 2019 workshop held at the WSDOT office in Richland. Dave Beach, Hector Cruz and Carl Berkowitz attended this meeting. We were encouraged by the enthusiasm of traffic engineers from WSDOT, Richland and Kennewick to address safety concerns for non-motorized travelers.
 
A selection of vugraphs illustrating possible modifications to the cloverleaf, as presented by WSDOT Traffic Engineer Ben Hausenbuiller,  can be viewed in the file below. Of special note is that at least one engineer (from Richland) suggested a totally different approach that did not involve any modifications to the cloverleaf; check out Vugraph 3, ‘City of Richland Review Long Term Plans/Options). The red-line shown here would get walkers/cyclists to and from Richland and Kennewick along a new path west of the cloverleaf.. Other options to get pedestrians and cyclists over the cloverleaf involved re-striping, adding crosswalks or flashing beacons.
 
What we, as the riding/walking community, can do is contact our state representatives asking that more funds be made available to our local WSDOT/Richland/Kennewick engineers so they can design and construct a more complete overhaul of this dangerous crossing. Contact information is provided in the first vugraph.

WSDOT Options for Richland Cloverleaf