MOSES LAKE – An engineering company presented plans in an open space Thursday for a Love’s Travel closing assignment off Interstate 90 eastbound near the 174 mile post, adding primary transportation innovations and modifications in this area.

The proposed allocation would come with 75 to 80 overnight truck parking spaces.

The transportation plan, presented through the assignment engineering company SCJ Alliance, focused on 3 priority areas, adding road access and exit ramps and surrounding roads. Taken together, they would particularly adjust traffic in this area, speeding up the procedure of getting on and off the road and encouraging a one-way circuit around the Love facility for all other traffic.

The first intervention domain has an effect on the I-90 exit ramp. Pritchard Road, which runs parallel to the road and lately connects the access and exit ramps, would move from a two-lane, two-lane road to a one-way single-lane road heading east. Traffic leaving the road would no longer have to prevent and give way to Idaho Road traffic, which crosses without delay after the exit ramp, to become a Love facility, Brandon Johnson, director of assignment at SCJ Alliance, said Thursday.

The Pritchard Road pavement would also be advanced to increase road durability under construction truck loads.

The concentration zone at the moment would make an additional adjustment to Idaho Road, this time when it crosses South Frontage Road Northwest, which is further south of the road and parallel to Pritchard Road. Currently, eastbound traffic from South Frontage Road Northwest has a curve on Idaho Road, while westbound traffic is expected to subside.

Finally, the I-90 ramp eastbound would be reduced to approximately 1000 feet, giving drivers more time to upgrade.

Currently, Pritchard Road drivers will have to maintain the 35 mph speed limit until Laguna Road passes, leaving them little time to improve with road traffic at 70 mph. Traffic on Laguna Road can also turn on Pritchard Road at this intersection, forcing drivers to take twice as fast with the same distance.

To mitigate the threat that additional Traffic from Love’s Travel Stop could create traffic hazards on the access ramp, mapping engineers recommended that drivers upgrade another 1,000 feet. This would cut off traffic in the opposite direction from Laguna Road, which would be a one-way road to the south, which would cause drivers looking to take the road around the amenities of Love and take Pritchard Road from Idaho Road.

The charge for such improvements, for studies and similar advice, is paid through Love’s Travel Stop, in accordance with federal and national law, an SCJ representative said Thursday.

Currently, the purpose is for the structure to begin in the spring of 2021, Johnson said, while adding that the coronavirus pandemic could have an effect on those plans. Otherwise, he said they expected to open the facility until the end of 2021.

In addition to highlighting key spaces of interest for Love’s transportation upgrades, Johnson also answered questions from network members about how Love’s would mitigate its effect on the surrounding network.

Several members of the network expressed fear that the assignment, adding adjustments to Laguna Road, would inspire trucks to cross southern neighborhoods. Although Johnson stated that some more trucks could descend down Sage Road, the assignment would be designed with signs to deter truckers from driving on Sand Dune Road.

In response to additional questions about the site’s diesel fumes, Johnson said that “it’s a truck stop,” but that Love’s was one of the largest diesel corporations in the country, that its generation was high-end and that “we’re convinced it’s probably not a problem.”

Another resident asked about the wetlands located lately on site that would be occupied by Love’s; Johnson said that while a component of the wetland was being removed, they were working with federal mitigation agencies.