Chumstick Highway Repairs On Hold While Little Giant Fire Burns Nearby

Chelan County Public Works will delay a project on Chumstick Highway at Beaver Hill near Plain due to safety concerns from the 24,000-acre Little Giant Fire.

Chelan County Commissioner Shon Smith appeared on the KPQ Agenda program Tuesday and said a three-week full road closure is necessary during work to extend a retaining wall, but will be now rescheduled until after the important fire escape route is no longer necessary, sometime this fall

"Looking at evacuation routes that we have for that area, there are only two ways in and out for the whole Plain area, and the rest of it goes to dirt roads. Looking at the evacuation need that may be coming, we want to be aware of the high (traffic) volumes coming out of that area and there will be two routes instead of one"  --Shon Smith

The postponement into the fall will impact school bus routes but Smith said the decision to delay the project was in the best interest of overall public safety

The retaining wall will be extended by 150 feet to help better stabilize the area where a landslide occurred during rainstorms in December. The extension project was slated to begin earlier this month but was pushed back to mid-August while the contractor, Hurst Construction of East Wenatchee, procured materials. Chelan County Public Works will announce a rescheduled project date for sometime this fall at a later date.

In addition to extending the existing retaining wall by 150 feet, other nearby slopes will be repaired and stabilized with additional fill and new guardrail.

The project area is from milepost 12.3 to 12.4 on Chumstick Highway

The $790,000 project is paid for with a mix of federal emergency relief funds and county road funds.