A long-awaited expansion and redesign of a stretch of Highway 12 south of the Tri-Cities may not roll out exactly as initially planned.

State transportation and county officials recently discussed breaking up the project further in a September meeting with the Federal Highway Administration, according to Randy Giles, assistant region administrator for the state Department of Transportation. 

Under the state’s proposal, elements of the western and eastern terminuses of the project could be completed first before connecting them later when more funding is available.

Federal officials have not weighed in on the proposal yet, though a course change may be necessary. It will cost an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars to reroute the vital highway across a less winding path, provide a safe three-way interchange connecting to Walla Walla and Oregon and support planned industrial development.

“This change in approach to the project is because the award of the grant funding is less than half of the request that was submitted with the grant application based on the entire project,” Giles said in an email to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Phase 8 of the Highway 12 expansion would expand the last remaining two-lane undivided stretch of the highway between Wallula and Nine Mile Hill into a four-lane divided roadway with wider medians and shoulders. 

It would also reroute the highway, cutting across the hills and agricultural fields north of the Walla Walla River before creating a new three-way interchange near the plant currently operated by Packaging Corporation of America as well as the Port of Walla Walla’s Wallula Gap Business Park.

That new interchange and access to the business park is part of the impetus behind the project, particularly from port leaders.

“We have pretty significant projects that are really looking forward to this access,” Commissioner Amy Schwab said during a port meeting in April. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has allocated $108.5 million from a Rural Surface Transportation grant to the project. The state’s 2025-27 transportation budget provides $40 million in funding, though it also calls on the port to contribute the right of way needed for the project, tentatively as much as 200 acres. 

Even with those secured funds, more is needed to cover the overall estimated project cost of $351 million. 

WSDOT is still aiming for construction to start in 2027 or 2028, with work continuing for two years. The agency is preparing for hearings next summer regarding limited access to the new roadway before acquiring the right-of-way needed for the project.