The long-sought expansion of Highway 12 between Wallula and Nine Mile Hill just west of Touchet continues to move forward, even as the federal government gutted various agencies and the state finalized a budget with billions of dollars in cuts.

Port of Walla Walla officials indicated in April that they were not concerned about the $108.5 million allocated for the project through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Surface Transportation Grant.

“We are confident we will keep our funding,” Meagan Blair, the port’s government affairs and community outreach specialist, told port commissioners. “This project does a lot for freight and safety.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson preserved the nearly $40 million in funding set aside for the project in the 2025-27 state transportation budget, though it also calls on the port to contribute the right of way needed for the project.

Patrick Reay, the port’s executive director, told commissioners during a May 22 meeting that he’s had productive conversations with the state Department of Transportation now that funding is secured and expected to have further updates on the project this summer.

Phase 8 of the Highway 12 expansion, announced in December, would expand the last remaining two-lane undivided stretch of the highway into a four-lane divided roadway with wider medians and shoulders. It would also consolidate access points, improving intersections and adding safety features such as guardrails and crash cushions. 

The grant was created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that allocated $44 billion for rural communities to repair and improve roads, bridges, airports and transportation systems. 

The Highway 12 project is the only one to receive funding from the grant in the state. Local officials have cited the importance of the project, particularly for the continued development of the port’s Wallula Gap Business Park.

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

The grant does require local matching funds, leading the port to pursue state funding for the project. Port officials asked commissioners in March if they approved providing some of the right of way needed for the project at no cost to the state.

“That strengthens the case to include those projects in the state budget because they see the importance locally,” Blair told commissioners.

Blair told commissioners there’s about 200 acres of port-owned land that may be needed to complete the highway improvements, particularly where Highway 12 forms a three-intersection juncture with Highway 730 near the Wallula Gap.

Port counsel Jared Hawkins also told the commissioners that providing the property at no cost would not be a gift from the port to the state, but an application of port funds to meet its mission. Reay told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business that the port would request the state to also donate right of way it holds to the project.

Even with the newly secured state funding, port officials told commissioners that more still needs to be lined up to cover the overall estimated project cost of $351 million. A new cost estimate is expected in mid- to late July, Reay told commissioners, and that will inform next steps.