East-West Corridor

Purpose and Need

The purpose of the East-West Corridor Project is to reduce congestion and connect the growing neighborhood of Terrace Heights to the City of Yakima:

Provide an alternative Yakima River crossing for east-west travel between the City of Yakima and Terrace Heights.
Increase mobility, by decreasing travel delay, and relieving traffic congestion at the I-82/Yakima Avenue Interchange and on Terrace Heights Drive and Yakima Avenue.
Construct the local road corridor which would allow for the consideration of construction of the recommended alternative for an interchange with I-82 identified in the WSDOT I-82/Yakima Avenue/Terrace Heights Drive IJR.
Provide bicycle and pedestrian facilities including a connection to the Yakima Greenway Trail.
Serve the existing approved transportation and land use planning along the roadway corridor as documented in the Yakima Valley Conference of Governments (YVCOG) 2020-2045 Metropolitan and Regional Transportation Plan.

The needs for the project include the following:

Congested Corridor –The current road network cannot support the growth anticipated in the area under the current comprehensive plan. The Terrace Heights neighborhood lies just to the east of the City of Yakima. The neighborhood—an unincorporated part of Yakima County—has grown considerably over the last five decades, with its population increasing fivefold in the 30 years between 1970 and 2000, to a 2019 total of 8,507. Redevelopment of the Boise Cascade Mill Site consistent with the planned land use in the current City of Yakima Comprehensive Plan is also anticipated to increase traffic demand within the City of Yakima.
The level of service (LOS) on the Yakima Avenue/Terrace Heights Drive corridor has been getting steadily worse and by 2035 it is expected to have multiple turning movements operating at LOS E or F. LOS is a letter grade corresponding to the amount of congestion a road has when completed to a standard. LOS A is the best or the least congested grade. LOS F indicates failure because the demand for a road is more than its capacity.
The current LOS along the Yakima Avenue/Terrace Heights Drive corridor has triggered Yakima County’s concurrency requirements, which limits new development permits along the corridor. In order to relax the restrictions, the County must either increase the capacity of the existing corridor or divert sufficient traffic volume onto another route. Right-of-way constraints along the existing Yakima Avenue/Terrace Heights Drive route prevent widening of the existing roadway. The future LOS at the Yakima Avenue interchange is also anticipated to cause back-ups onto the I-82 mainline.
Emergency Response – The Yakima River poses a natural barrier to travel between Yakima and Terrace Heights. Historically, east-west traffic in the project vicinity has had only one option to travel between these two locations: the Yakima Avenue/Terrace Heights Drive corridor. A new corridor is needed to provide an alternative route to Terrace Heights during any future closures of the Terrace Heights Bridge as well as an additional route for emergency services.
Lack of pedestrian and bicycle connectivity – There is no access to the Greenway Trail between Yakima Avenue and SR 12. The existing East H Street corridor does not include sidewalks or bike lanes and there is no access for pedestrians to the Greenway Trail from the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Click the figure to view larger map.

Extent of the Yakima River flood in May 2011

Project Elements

The Proposed Project would include construction of three separate streets:

East H Street - The project would improve this existing narrow local access road by widening it to a three-lane road (one lane each direction and a two-way left-turn lane) with buffered bike lanes and sidewalks and installing a new traffic signal at its intersection with North 1st Street. It would also be extended to the east from its current terminus at North 7th Street to connect with Bravo Company Boulevard as it turns to the south. The East H Street corridor must be widened and upgraded prior to the opening of Bravo Company Boulevard north of its proposed roundabout connection with Cascade Mill Parkway.
Bravo Company Boulevard – An extension of Bravo Company Boulevard connecting to East H Street would be constructed which would turn south and connect to the current terminus near Fair Avenue. This road would include two travel lanes, a buffered bike lane in both directions, center median, and sidewalk on both sides of the roadway. A shared use pathway would be constructed in lieu of a sidewalk on the north side of the roadway between East H Street and Cascade Mill Parkway. One new at-grade railroad crossing would be required. A roundabout intersection with Cascade Mill Parkway would be constructed along with one additional roundabout intersection to connect to an existing access road to the adjacent properties.
Cascade Mill Parkway – This road would include two travel lanes in both directions, center turn lane or median as appropriate, bike lanes in both directions, shared use pathway on the north side and sidewalk on the south side. Cascade Mill Parkway would connect to Bravo Company Boulevard at a roundabout intersection and then continue east beneath I-82 and across the Yakima River and Roza Canal Wasteway #2.

This proposed corridor alignment would require construction of four bridges including:

Yakima River Bridge – A four-span bridge would be constructed across the Yakima River approximately 500 feet south of the existing railroad bridge. The proposed bridge would have four vehicular travel lanes, two bike lanes and a shared use pathway on the north side. One pier of the proposed bridge over the Yakima River would be installed within the Ordinary High-Water Mark (OHWM) of the river while the two other piers would be installed within the limits of the 100-year floodplain. The construction of the bridge would require a temporary work bridge within the Yakima River.
Roza Canal Wasteway #2 Pedestrian and Vehicular Bridge – A single-span bridge would be constructed at a new crossing location to connect the corridor to the existing portion of Cascade Mill Parkway (Phase 1). The proposed bridge would have four vehicular travel lanes, two bike lanes, a shared use pathway on the north side, and sidewalk on the south side.
Interstate 82 Eastbound and Westbound Overpass Bridges – Two single-span bridges, one for each direction of traffic, would be constructed to carry I-82 over the proposed corridor. The roadway widths would match existing I-82 geometry with 2 lanes in each direction, plus the off-ramp for Fair Avenue. The bridges would accommodate future widening or the addition of collector-distributor ramp bridges by WSDOT in the future.

Floodplain mitigation will be provided for the impacts created by construction of the new Yakima River Bridge piers and floodplain fill. The mitigation will consist of floodplain grading, backchannel construction, levee improvements, and large wood habitat structures as appropriate. Mitigation work conducted as part of this project would be consistent with the work currently being done with Yakima County’s Yakima River Gap to Gap Ecosystem Restoration Project The floodplain restoration work will help prevent flood damage to properties adjacent to the river as well as improve salmon habitat. The photo to the left shows the extent of the Yakima River flood in May of 2011.

Public Outreach

Throughout the planning process of this project, it has been important that we hear input from the local community. Public outreach for this project has been ongoing since the project was in the alternative analysis phase. Numerous public meetings have been held in the City of Yakima where city, county, and design team representatives have discussed proposed alternatives, proposed project facilities, project phasing, and other project aspects. The first open house meeting occurred on June 9, 2010. In this meeting, personnel representing the design team, Yakima County, and the City of Yakima discussed the four proposed alignments for the East-West Corridor. Attendees of the meeting were asked to leave contact information if they wanted to be kept informed of project updates through mailed or emailed notices. Meeting attendees were asked to leave questions and/or comments on comment forms for project representatives to respond. These comments mainly pertained to personal preference of proposed alignments which minimized impacts to personal property. Concerns were also raised regarding disruption from noise and traffic to the community as a whole from the different proposed alignments. Comments in support of Greenway Trail connections and pedestrian facilities were also received. These comments were addressed in Appendix J of the August 2011 Alignment Study.

A follow-up open house meeting occurred on November 16, 2010. As the meeting discussed the same alternatives as the first meeting, the majority of the comments addressed the same issues as the first one.

A public comment period occurred following the publishing of the August 2011 Alignment Study for the project. Notices were sent out to residents and property owners within the project vicinity, as well as people who left their contact information at previous open-house meetings. A phone number was provided on the notice to contact for information in Spanish. Comments were submitted by October 15, 2011. A follow-up public meeting occurred on October 25, 2011. The meeting began with an introduction from a Yakima County representative summarizing the alternatives analysis process. The majority of these comments again pertained to concerns over chosen alternative alignments including right-of-way acquisitions. Comments both for and against roundabout intersections were received as well as support for transit options on the new route. Based on the comments received prior to the October 15 deadline, and the comments stated during the October 25 meeting, an Alignment Alternatives Study – Supplemental Report was published in June 2012.

With the final alignment chosen, public meetings resumed in 2019 to discuss the Proposed Project phasing and the environmental review process. An open house meeting occurred on April 17, 2019, which all property owners within the project vicinity were notified by mail in a letter provided in both English and Spanish. A Spanish language interpreter was present at the open house to answer questions regarding the project. The majority of the comments received pertained to concerns with the bicycle facility design and concerns with how this project would impact the surrounding neighborhoods on both sides of the river. Based on the comments provided at these meetings, the project design along East H Street has been altered in order to provide sidewalks and bike lanes rather than a shared use path.

In-person meetings have not been possible during the Covid-19 pandemic, but we still want to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments regarding this project, or any of the other projects discussed on this site, please submit a comment on our Contact Us page. We will respond to you as soon as we can. Notices for any future public meetings will be posted to this site. Also, the documents referenced on this page, and more, can be downloaded from the Library page.

Title VI

Yakima County ensures full compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by prohibiting discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin or sex in the provision of benefits and services resulting from its federally assisted programs and activities. For questions regarding Yakima County’s Title VI Program, you may contact the Title VI Coordinator at (509)-574-2300.

If your questions pertain to a meeting and you need special accommodations, please call us at (509)-574-2300 by 10:00 am three days prior to the meeting. For TDD users, please use the States’s toll free relay service 1-800-833-6388 and ask the operator to dial (509)-574-2300.

Public outreach flyer from April 17th, 2019 Public Open House.