Kittitas - Hungry Junction Road
Project Number: 1921-01
From milepost 0 to milepost 1.74
RATA Funds: $2,272,860
Legislative District: 13
Status: PE and Design
Date Approved: 2021
Hungry Junction Road is a Rural Minor Collector, and provides a regionally significant east-west connection through lower Kittitas County. Hungry Junction Road is just over one mile North of the City of Ellensburg Urban Growth Area boundary, where several housing developments have begun the construction process. The roadway connects to US-97 and provides access to logging, recreation, ranching, farming, a hay processing plant and growing residential areas. These road improvements are needed for public safety and improved mobility. Truck traffic accounts for 28% of all traffic on the road. Traffic from the hay processing plant includes a truck ADT of 168 with a gross annual tonnage of 690,250.
The current roadway is narrow with deep unprotected drainage ditches, and it has vertical curves with poor sight distance. Currently Hungry Junction Road has 20 feet of overall pavement width. The roadway vertical curves do not provide adequate stopping sight distance for the posted speed. For example, the vertical curve closest to US-97 has a stopping sight distance of about 200 feet. According to design standards, this vertical curve should provide about 800 feet of stopping sight distance. Currently there is no guardrail protecting the steep slopes and most of the crossing and access culverts do not have beveled ends.
Kittitas County is proposing to widen the roadway from US-97 to Reecer Creek Road from the current condition to 24 feet pavement width and 2 foot of shoulder on each side, acquisition of additional right of way will be needed to accomplish the widening. We will also improve the profile of Hungry Junction Road from MP 0.00 (US-97) to MP 1.74 (Reecer Creek Road) to meet WSDOT design standards for stopping sight distance at 50 Miles per Hour. The drainage structures throughout the project area will be updated and/or replaced with beveled ends for safety. Two 5 – 6 foot corrugated metal culverts at MP 0.74, where the roadway crosses a branch of Reecer Creek, will be replaced with a single larger structure. There will be numerous utility poles, communications pedestals and some irrigation equipment that will be relocated outside of the clear zone. The new roadway will also have guardrail, striping and signage installed to comply with the WSDOT design manual.
The current roadway is narrow with deep unprotected drainage ditches, and it has vertical curves with poor sight distance. Currently Hungry Junction Road has 20 feet of overall pavement width. The roadway vertical curves do not provide adequate stopping sight distance for the posted speed. For example, the vertical curve closest to US-97 has a stopping sight distance of about 200 feet. According to design standards, this vertical curve should provide about 800 feet of stopping sight distance. Currently there is no guardrail protecting the steep slopes and most of the crossing and access culverts do not have beveled ends.
Kittitas County is proposing to widen the roadway from US-97 to Reecer Creek Road from the current condition to 24 feet pavement width and 2 foot of shoulder on each side, acquisition of additional right of way will be needed to accomplish the widening. We will also improve the profile of Hungry Junction Road from MP 0.00 (US-97) to MP 1.74 (Reecer Creek Road) to meet WSDOT design standards for stopping sight distance at 50 Miles per Hour. The drainage structures throughout the project area will be updated and/or replaced with beveled ends for safety. Two 5 – 6 foot corrugated metal culverts at MP 0.74, where the roadway crosses a branch of Reecer Creek, will be replaced with a single larger structure. There will be numerous utility poles, communications pedestals and some irrigation equipment that will be relocated outside of the clear zone. The new roadway will also have guardrail, striping and signage installed to comply with the WSDOT design manual.