Since 2006 the City has been actively engaged with the several owners of the Boise Cascade Mill Site property to address remediation of the City’s municipal solid waste landfill that was deposited on that property by the City during the years 1963 through 1970.

More recently, and associated with that effort, a plan for the development of roadways on and across the Mill Site property has become a reality.  As a result of the cooperative efforts of the City, Yakima County, and the Washington State Department of Transportation, roads have been planned to extend ‘H’ Street east across the Mill site, under the interstate and across the Yakima River to provide an “east-west corridor” from Yakima to Terrace Heights as a way to provide access to the developing Mill Site property and to relieve the growing pressure on the I-82 and Yakima Avenue interchange.  At the same time, the City has plans to extend Bravo Company Boulevard north across the Mill Site to tie into the east-west corridor.

The City and County have been advised that they have been awarded many millions of dollars in dedicated grant funding to off-set a tremendous portion of the costs associated with this road development project.  These funds are available for a specified window of time within which construction must be initiated.  At this point, the parties participating in this project are meeting the necessary timelines to be able to begin construction to meet the funding opportunities.  In order to construct the roads across the Mill Site the City must acquire the land required for right-of-way to build them on, as well as for the utility easements and temporary construction easements that will facilitate the road construction effort.  To that end, after more than three years of negotiation, the City has received the attached and executed Purchase and Sale Agreement from the several Mill Site property owners for the required right of way and easements.

In anticipation of the purchase of the required right-of-way the City has held the funds necessary to complete this purchase as a budgeted item for several years.  The funds are available when the property closing occurs.  This purchase is a great step forward after many years of efforts to reach this goal and to provide access to the Mill Site property, as well as to provide an improved access to Terrace Heights that will relieve a great deal of traffic from the Yakima Avenue interchange, most of the construction of which will be paid for with grant funds the City and County have received.