Knapp’s Hill Tunnel Closed Indefinitely

WSDOT decided to indefinitely close US 97A in both directions Thursday from milepost 223 to 230 at the Knapps Hill Tunnel south of Chelan for emergency slope stabilization work.

Communications Manager Lauren Loebsack said WSDOT had previously scheduled work to mitigate rock fall at that location for August or September.

"With this need to have an emergency closure we are currently working to accelerate that schedule to be able to perform this work in the coming weeks."

Officials had scheduled a series of day-long closures of Knapp's Hill Tunnel to begin May 26th, but leadership decided Thursday to close the tunnel area immediately due to the increasing severity of rock fall.

Detours include US 97 through Douglas county and SR 971 over Navarre Coulee Road.