More than $246 million.

That’s how much state funding for capital and transportation projects could be headed to the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas if approved by Gov. Bob Ferguson.

The dozens of projects are all included in the capital and transportation budgets for 2025-27 biennium approved by the state Legislature before it ended the session on April 27. Much of the funding is tied to the state departments of transportation and commerce and the State Board of Community & Technical Colleges.

“These investments will create opportunity, strengthen our workforce, support families, and enhance quality of life across the region. That’s the kind of progress we can all be excited about,” said 8th District Republican lawmakers state Sen. Matt Boehnke and state Reps. April Connors and Stephanie Barnard in a joint statement.

Per state law, bills approved by the Legislature and placed on the governor’s desk fewer than five days before the Legislature adjourns have 20 days to be acted on by the governor. In the case of the budget bills, that means it could be around May 20 that Ferguson makes his final decision. He also has the authority to veto specific line items in the budget.

Here are some of the bigger and more notable items currently on deck for funding:

Transportation

• Additional lanes and improved intersections between the Richland Wye and Columbia Center Boulevard on Highway 240, $41 million.
• Improvements to where Van Giesen Street, Swift Boulevard and Duportail Street intersect with the Highway 240 bypass. This would include adding acceleration and deceleration lanes, traffic signal upgrades and more, $11.4 million.
• Improvements to Highway 244 through West Richland’s Red Mountain area, including construction of roundabouts, bike lanes and pedestrian areas, $32.2 million.
• Continued work at the intersection of Highway 395 and Ridgeline Drive in Kennewick, $20.5 million.
• Continued work on the Lewis Street bridge replacement in Pasco, $26 million.
• Rail interchange at Connell to resolve a regional pinch point in the rail network, $19 million.
• Pre-design and planning for a future Interstate 82 interchange at Red Mountain, $3.5 million.

Community colleges

• Replacement of arts building at the Columbia Basin College Pasco campus, $54.5 million.
• Support for construction of new student housing at CBC, $18 million.

Commerce

• Funding for a test bed facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, $4 million.
• Funding for Benton County's Three Rivers Recovery Housing project, $3.8 million.
• Various capital improvements and expansion for the Prosser and Pasco clubhouses of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton & Franklin Counties, $3.5 million.
• Expansion of the state Early Childhood Education & Assistance Program in the Prosser School District, $1.1 million.
• Grants to Columbia Basin Health Association and Tri-Cities Community Health to support dental services, $1.1 million.
• Funding for the Benton Rural Electric Association’s Wildfire Resilience Project, $1 million.
• Funds to build the Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum, $1 million.
• Grant for renovation of Pasco’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, $927,000.
• Tri-City Intermodal facility at Wallula, $773,000.
• Replacement of the Columbia Park East boat launch in Kennewick, $750,000.
• Local projects of Grid Scale Coordination for Washington, $700,000.
• Development of park on Road 80 in Pasco, $515,000.
• Food distribution and storage improvements at Tri-Cities Food Bank, $341,000.
• Installation of backup generator at West Richland municipal offices, $309,000.

K-12 education

• Replacement of the HVAC system at Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick, $280,000.

Recreation & conservation

• Installation of splash pad at Blacktop Estates Park in Benton City, $500,000.