City to dramatically change SE 2nd Street

By Terry Murry on Wednesday, April 12th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – The city of Hermiston now has the funds to move ahead with a plan to dramatically change Southeast Second Street at Highway 395. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said the project will go out to bid soon and should be completed by the end of the construction season.

“It will completely eliminate any traffic from being able to go out onto Highway 395 from Second Street,” Morgan said of the plan. “It turns Second Street to a one-way north off of 395.”

Morgan said a neighborhood meeting of impacted property owners was held and the input was positive from business managers.

“It was shockingly supportive from the adjacent property owners,” he said. “They’ve all generally been aware of it since we started talking about the project almost 10 years ago now.”

He said the plan was delayed as the city waited to amass the $450,000 in urban renewal dollars to complete the project. That time has now arrived.