Date:  Monday, August 15, 2011

Contact: Jeff Adamson, WSDOT Communications Mgr. 509-667-2815 jeff.adamson@wsdot.wa.gov (Wenatchee)
Bob Romine, WSDOT Project Engineer 509-667-2880 bob.romine@wsdot.wa.gov (Wenatchee)

ENTIAT – Work in the spring will stabilize a slope a half mile south of Rocky Reach Dam to reduce risk of rock falling onto US 97A north of Wenatchee. It will require lane closures, but the project team wants to make them as least disruptive as possible to traffic and surrounding communities.

Later this month, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will hold an open house in Entiat to discuss with the public options for the project work schedule and traffic control plans.

What: Open House – US 97A slope stabilization work schedule and traffic control
When: 5-7 p.m., Aug. 24
Where: Entiat Grange Hall, 14108 Kinzel St. in Entiat

The project will stabilize a rock slope above US 97A, two miles north of Wenatchee. Crews will remove debris and dangerous rocks; then install rock bolts, steel reinforcement bars and concrete to reinforce the hillside. They also will hang steel cable netting to prevent falling rocks from reaching the roadway.
The $4.5 million project is scheduled to be advertised for private contractor bids this fall. Construction will begin in the spring of 2012. It is the last of four funded slope repairs that started in 2010 along US 97A.

WSDOT is considering four traffic control plans that feature work-hour and lane closure scenarios. The scenarios differ in how long the work will last – three and half to five months and how long the road closures would be each day. The traffic plan must prioritize transportation reliability for schools, transit, businesses, commuters, truckers, travelers and emergency services.

The public is invited to the open house to tell the project team which plan they prefer.

During construction a public information program will provide travel delay and road closure information, using:

• WSDOT’s project Web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/US97A/RockyReachSlope/
• WSDOT Highway Alerts at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/default.aspx
• The 511 telephone travel information system
• North Wenatchee’s Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) at AM 1610
• Special email to media, businesses, schools, transit and emergency services
• Electronic message signs on US 97A at Chelan and Wenatchee
• Local radio and newspapers 
                                            ###

< Go Back