WATERVILLE, WASHINGTON – The Douglas County Board of Commissioners adopted a new permitting process for drivers of motor vehicles exceeding 10,000 pounds in weight to regain use of McNeil Canyon Road at a public hearing on September 19, 2023.
McNeil Canyon Road closed to the operation of motor vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW) on August 29, 2023, due to road condition concerns, redesign, construction, and accidents caused by vehicle equipment failure. The closure allows for Douglas County crews to complete topography analysis, roadway curve design and evaluation of the necessary right-of-way acquisitions needed for a planned roadway realignment and safety improvement project on McNeil Canyon Road, anticipated to be complete by 2025.
Interested drivers can find the Special Motor Vehicle Permit for authorization to haul on McNeil Canyon Road linked on the Douglas County website Transportation Travel & Traffic Alerts page, by visiting http://lfforms.douglascountywa.net/Forms/SMVP, or in person at the Public Services Building located at 140 19th Street NW in East Wenatchee. Most permits can be issued on the same day if the applicant can provide the necessary information.
The McNeil Canyon Road Special Motor Vehicle Permit includes the following conditions:
Affected vehicles without a permit during the McNeil Canyon Road closure can use three alternate routes, including US Hwy 2 Pine Canyon Road, Road C NW (SR 172), and Bridgeport Hill Road.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison reports, on 9/16/23, deputies were dispatched to a report of an injury accident on Chumstick Hwy at Freund Canyon Rd. Deputies arrived to find a motorcyclist had crashed into a motorhome and sadly, was declared deceased by medical personnel on scene.
The driver of the motorcycle was identified as Alexandra L. Becerra of Langley, WA. Initial investigation shows the motorcyclist appeared to have lost control on a corner causing her to go into the oncoming lane before crashing into a motorhome. The investigation is ongoing.
On 6/27/2023 deputies were dispatched to a report of a vehicle prowl in the area of Chatter Creek trail head outside Leavenworth. The victim reported someone had broken her passenger side window and stole her wallet along with other items. The victim’s debit card was later used at a business in Leavenworth. Deputies followed up with that business and were able to obtain a vehicle description of the person who used the stolen debit card.
On 8/5/2023 the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Forrest Service Deputy learned of additional vehicle prowls along the Highway 20 corridor on National Parks Service land in the northwest area of Chelan County. Through the deputy’s investigation, he was able to identify a vehicle in the area of the prowls as the same one involved in the Chatter Creek car prowl. This time they were able to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle.
More follow up from the deputy led him to evidence that the registered owner of the suspect vehicle was facilitating the sale of some of the items stolen from the vehicles. At that point the case was turned over to Chelan County Sheriff’s Office detective unit. They were able to identify the male and female seen on surveillance cameras as Sierra L Cotter and Brandon R. Sutherland of Everett.
Detectives later arrested Cotter in King County and booked her in the Chelan County Regional Justice center on charges of Possession of Stolen Property, Identity Theft, and Forgery. They also obtained a search warrant for two storage units in the Everett area that belonged to Sutherland and Cotter.
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office detectives served the search warrants in Everett with the assistance of Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. As a result of this investigation, 2 Chelan County cases, 2 National Parks cases, and 10 Snohomish County cases were solved. Suspects may now be facing charges in Snohomish County as well.
This case is another example of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office commitment to protecting our citizens from people that come from other areas to commit crimes. We are committed to go beyond county lines to investigate and apprehend those suspects.
OLYMPIA – Travelers in Washington logged a lot of miles on state highways in 2022. A heck of a lot.
Vehicle miles traveled by drivers in 2022 may have increased a modest 1.2 percent from 2021, but there is nothing modest about the 34.2 billion miles traveled, more than enough for 182 trips to the sun and back.
Annual performance data like this and five-year trends for numerous travel modes on select state-owned roadways are available in WSDOT’s recently released 2023 Multimodal Mobility Dashboard. The dashboard provides quick access to information about the state's most-traveled corridors, examining how congestion and corresponding mitigation strategies like incident response and HOV lanes affect travel.
The dashboard analyzes travel by car, public transit, passenger rail, ferry, airplane, walking, and biking, as well as multimodal freight mobility. These strategies and modes work together to help improve the movement of people and goods on Washington state's multimodal transportation system.
Some of the highlights from the Multimodal Mobility Dashboard:
To learn more about WSDOT's Multimodal Mobility Dashboard, visit WSDOT's Congestion & multimodal mobility reports webpage.
Regular Board Meeting
September 14, 2023, 4:10pm
Bumgarner Meeting Room, 142 Pedoi Street, Manson WA 98831
1. Call to Order
2. Flag Salute
3. Agenda Additions and Deletions
4. Public Comment
5. Approval of Minutes
a. August 10, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes
6. Financial Review
a. Review Monthly Financial Report
b. Review and Approve Monthly Voucher
7. New Business
a. Resolution 2023-03 (Items for surplus)
b. 2024 budget planning
c. New online reservation platform authorization
d. Local Parks Maintenance application authorization
8. Old Business
a. Updates:
i. Old Swim Hole development project
1. Mountain Barge Services quote approval
ii. Manson Bay Marina planning project
iii. Leffler Field soil remediation planning project
b. Director’s Report
IX. Adjournment
Next Regular Meeting: 4:10pm on October 12, 2023 at 142 Pedoi Street, Manson WA, 98831 (unless otherwise posted).
HydroFest is back in Manson on the North Shore of Lake Chelan September 29th - October 1st! This annual event is presented by the Manson Chamber of Commerce and we are so happy to have another weekend of HydroFest Races back in Manson Bay with the Pacific Northwest Boat Racing Association. This is an exciting, family friendly event that draws hundreds of people to the Lake Chelan Valley for two and a half days!
Join us for the Registration Party at WineGirl Wines on Friday, September 29th from 3pm - 8pm! You will be able to meet some of the drivers and see the Hydros up close and personal before the races start on Saturday.
WSDOT’s quarterly performance report, the Gray Notebook for the quarter ending June 2023, is now available in its interactive format. While numerous performance measures are reported throughout the GNB, highlights from this issue include:
OLYMPIA – The Commercial Aviation Work Group, created in House Bill 1791 has launched a website to promote community engagement, and applications are now being accepted for the governor-appointed positions. The work group will evaluate the long-range commercial aviation and transportation needs of the state, including alternatives for additional aviation capacity which includes expanding use of existing airports and multi-modal opportunities.
“This work group will focus on use of new technology, environmental stewardship and resiliency in aviation,” said Ann Richart, Washington State Department of Transportation aviation director. “Its members will be instrumental to considering how aviation can contribute to livable communities in Washington, particularly in western Washington.”
Requirements for the position applicants is on the Governors Board and Commission profiles website under "Commercial Aviation Work Group." Those interested can apply now, with application reviews starting Oct. 9.
The group will use the previous information found during the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission as a baseline of information.
A new website for the Commercial Aviation Work Group allows people to sign up for updates and those who previously signed up for the CACC email updates are automatically on the Commercial Aviation Work Group email list. Updates will be sent out via email and on the website as information becomes available.
WENATCHEE, WA (AUG. 28, 2023) -- Haarhues joins Dovex Fruit Company with several years’ senior sales experience including vice president of sales at Dovex’s partner company, Crunch Pak. He held prior positions with SUPERVALU, in corporate produce for store formats; Amcor Flexibles Europe; Americas Fresh Produce; and Stemilt Growers.
“We are at a critical growth juncture and it’s important that we have experienced senior executives managing customer relationships,” said Mauro Feliza, president Dovex Fruit Company. “Bob’s experience with our company and the industry overall is vital as we move forward the rest of this year and beyond.”
Haarhues lives in Arizona and will work out of the Dovex Marketing Company’s (a subsidiary of Dovex Fruit Company) corporate headquarters in Wenatchee, Wash.
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, McNeil Canyon Road in Douglas County, Washington, will close to the operation of motor vehicles weighing more than 10,000 lbs. The closure is from the intersection of Rd. C NW (SR 172) and Rd. 14 NW (SR 172) and Beebe Bridge on US Hwy 97. The closure is due to road condition concerns, redesign, and construction. During this time all affected vehicles can use three alternate routes including US Hwy 2 Pine Canyon Road, Road C NW (SR 172), and Bridgeport Hill Road.
A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at the Douglas County Courthouse in Waterville, Washington; where/when the Board of County Commissioners will consider adoption of a permitting and education process for the operation of motor vehicles weighing more than 10,000 lbs., and their drivers, to eventually regain use of the one-mile stretch of roadway.
The closure beginning August 29, 2023, allows for county crews to complete topography analysis, roadway curve design and evaluation of the necessary right-of-way acquisitions needed for a planned roadway realignment and safety improvement project on McNeil Canyon Road, anticipated to be complete by 2025.
We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconveniences.
MVT WebCam 