KENNEWICK, Wash. – The city of Kennewick is investing $221,000 in a storm water improvement plan aimed at enhancing eight locations across the city.
Some of these locations were suggested by residents who have experienced issues, while others were identified by the Public Works Division.
The project will introduce new storm drains, dry wells, groundwater percolators, and oil-water separators on streets across the city.
Heath Mellotte, Kennewick’s Design Services Manager, emphasized the need for these upgrades.
“Some of these projects that we’re doing each year… they’re on existing systems that are up to like 50 to 60 to sometimes 70 years old,” said Mellotte.
According to Mellotte, current storm drains are designed to last a 24-hour, 25-year storm. He also mentioned two additional projects planned for the near future, both targeting storm water infrastructure in Kennewick. These projects are expected to cost nearly five times the current plan.
“Well, right now we’ve got the Park Hills Storm rehabilitation project going on. That’s about a $950,000 project…,” says Mellotte. “We’re going to be improving the storm system out on Ridgeline… that involves catching the storm water off Ridgeline and then actually running into storm retention ponds.”
Funding for these projects comes from storm water utility rates paid by property owners across Kennewick. The rates are broken down into two-month billing cycles:
Single-family households contribute $12.41 Multi-family households contribute $7.61 per dwelling unitNon-residential households (churches and schools) contribute $74.52Commercial properties contribute based on number of parking spaces0-10 parking spaces contribute $35.54500+ parking spaces contribute $262.96
Residents can expect road closures in the near future as work on the storm water project progresses. These roads include:
2913 S. Fruitland St.W. Grand Ronde Ave & Kansas St.2511 W. Entiat Ave.4808 S. Washington St.4500 S. Dayton Ct.8120 W. 4th Ave.W. 10th Ave. & S. Yolo St.3221 W. 5th Ave.
