The Tri-Cities’ second Costco is now open in the bustling Queensgate area of Richland, but it will be a year before the roads see improvements to accommodate the extra traffic.

And brace yourself, Tri-Cities, the $5.2 million in planned improvements include roundabouts.

The street upgrades aim to alleviate traffic created by Costco and its gas station. Estimates indicate the development will bring in 450 more cars per day to the Queensgate area during peak evening hours.

The city of Richland has been working on the design phase for the roadwork since Costco first filed building permits with the city about a year ago. West Richland also plans some street improvements of its own as Costco shoppers boost traffic at some intersections.

Roadwork and roundabouts

Costco, which opened Aug. 8 at 3125 Queensgate Drive, initiated several traffic assessments on its own to address traffic concerns, focusing on the intersections of Queensgate Drive and Duportail Street; Queensgate’s ramps at Interstate 182; Duportail and Highway 240; Duportail and Keene Road; Duportail and Kennedy Road; and Kennedy and Keene.

Costco paid the city nearly $1.1 million in traffic impact fees for the warehouse, with a separate traffic impact fee of nearly $470,000 paid as part of the permit for Costco’s fueling station, according to permits filed with the city.

The city of Richland projects Costco also will generate at least $800,000 a year in sales tax, to be used to help fund the city’s share of a $32.6 million project to replace the region’s 911 communications infrastructure.

As a result of the traffic studies, Costco took on several improvements on its 29.48-acre property, like extending Queensgate along the north frontage of the Costco property, creating the north-south road Kingsgate Drive, adding speed humps to Truman Avenue – this is the road behind Target – to slow down and deter cut-through traffic, and adding turn lanes on Kennedy. 

Some improvements, though, are outside of Costco’s scope, such as the Kennedy-Duportail and Queengate-Duportail intersections, which were identified as needing improvements.

A line snakes around the new Richland Costco as customers wait to shop on opening day. The city estimates the new development will add 450 more cars to nearby roads a day.

| Photo by Nathan Finke 

Roundabouts

The city of Richland will install a roundabout at the Kennedy-Duportail intersection and additional lanes at the Queensgate-Duportail intersection and modify the traffic signals there.

The city also saw an opportunity to update the intersection of Duportail and the Vintner Square entrance, so drivers can safely cross between the Walmart and Target parking lots. “It’s a high-capacity driveway with a lot of vehicles and a lot of crashes associated with that driveway because of impatience with drivers making turns,” said Carlo D’Alessandro, public works director for the city of Richland.

That intersection will become a roundabout, and between it and the second roundabout, a median will be built to prevent left turns between the two roundabouts. 

Costco’s traffic impact fees will go toward the $5.2 million project, as will a $1.5 million grant from the state Transportation Improvement Board’s Urban Arterial Program and $1.5 million from Benton County Rural Capital funds. The rest will be funded from local real estate excise taxes.

D’Alessandro said it’s unusual to secure that much in funding on such a short timeline, and it’s allowing the city to move quickly. The design phase is about 30% complete. 

Maryland-based Apex Companies, which acquired PBS Engineering and Environmental last year, is doing that work. 

Timeline 

The designs are expected to be finalized this winter. If everything goes smoothly, the project could go out to bid in the beginning of 2026, around February or March.

Construction then could take about six months, meaning the project could be wrapped up by late 2026. 

There are several factors, however, that could delay the project, like needing to move utilities or property acquisitions, D’Alessandro said.

West Richland work

Costco also has an agreement with the city of West Richland to pay for a portion of improvements at the Kennedy-Bombing Range Road and Kennedy-Keene intersections.

A traffic impact analysis estimated that traffic generated by Costco and future developments on the Department of Natural Resources land would make up 4.45% of total traffic at the Kennedy-Bombing Range intersection and 3.53% of traffic at the Kennedy-Keene intersection. 

Costco paid 4.45% and 3.53% of the estimated West Richland roadwork costs, respectively, a total of more than $138,000.

The Kennedy-Bombing Range project, estimated to cost $1.6 million, will replace the current four-way stop with a traffic signal. The project is not yet fully funded so it could be several years away, said Roscoe Slade III, West Richland’s Public Works director.

The Kennedy-Keene project – this is the intersection that’s home to a Wake Up Call coffee shop and Mister Car Wash – includes restriping Kennedy to create a separate through-lane and left turn lane and adding signal heads to allow protected right turns from Kennedy onto Keene. That project is estimated to cost $33,255 in its first phase and $1.8 million in its second phase. 

Slade said the work on the Kennedy-Keene intersection is expected to wrap up this fall. 

More traffic coming

Future developments are expected to set up shop on neighboring state Department of Natural Resources land surrounding Costco, and the road improvements will help support additional traffic flow from those as well, D’Alessandro said.

The street upgrades should last about 20 years before any modification is needed, which is a typical projection for road projects like these, he said.

While a year may seem far out in the wake of Costco’s recent opening, D’Alessandro said the lag time is relatively small. 

“I think we’re in really good shape at this point,” he said. “We’ll have the right improvements done and people will be able to get to Costco or any of the other businesses ... with limited delay.”

Go to: bit.ly/duportail-street.