In the latest development in a long-running legal dispute about access to French Creek Road, the Okanogan County commissioners this week voted to declare a portion of the rural road as open to the public and to oppose a pending quiet title action that seeks to have the road declared private. At their Tuesday meeting […]
Roads
Loup Loup repair complete; bridge work begins in lower valley
Both lanes of Highway 20 east of Loup Loup summit opened to traffic Tuesday (June 18), as crews were wrapping up emergency repairs prompted by a May 1 landslide. The highway had been reduced to a single lane for the past seven weeks — except for eight days when the road was closed completely. Those traveling between […]
Highway 20 over Loup Loup Pass closed until June 4
Washout repairs require shutdown State Highway 20 remains closed until 9 p.m. next Tuesday (June 4) at milepost 222.4 as contractors work on emergency repairs to a washout that occurred on May 1. The closure started earlier this week on Tuesday morning (May 28). Previously, the highway had been open to one-lane, signal-controlled traffic. “The […]
Street improvement project starts in Twisp
Construction crews will begin tearing up the pavement on several streets in the northeast part of Twisp next week when work begins on a $1.2 million water and street upgrade project that will continue through September.
More than 20 residents and business owners who will be affected by the project attended a …
Mudslides return to Highway 20 east of Loup Loup summit
Local highway crews were experiencing déjà vu this week, when mudslides came down over Highway 20 east of Loup Loup Pass, in the same area where slides closed the highway almost exactly a year ago.
Highway 20 was closed briefly …
Okanogan County looks at compensation process for vacated roads
When county roads are closed at the request of a property owner, the county code sets out ways for the county to be compensated for the value of the road.
But the Okanogan County code, which lists three categories of roads and multiples scenarios for …
County prosecutor asks state AG for opinion on road claims
The Okanogan County prosecutor has asked the state attorney general for an informal opinion about how to officially recognize that the county has no claim or right to a road on a 1955 list of county roads.
Okanogan County Prosecutor Branden Platter submitted the opinion request to …
Legal arguments continue in dispute over primitive road access
It was standing-room-only in Okanogan County Superior Court last week for oral arguments over the ownership of a primitive road in the lower Methow Valley. A 3-mile stretch of road on French Creek outside the town…
Battle over rural roads will have court hearing
To people accustomed to traveling on the main highways of Okanogan County, roads to upper Texas Creek, French Creek, Brewster and the Chiliwist can seem far apart.
But these areas are actually all connected via old back roads that span the hills between the Methow …
Forest Service receives $1 million for repair work on flood-damaged roads
Flood repair work is expected to begin this month on several U.S. Forest Service roads on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, including four in the Methow Valley. The roads suffered significant damage from fall 2015 and spring 2016 heavy snow melt-off and rain that caused debris flows, road washouts and other damage, the Forest Service said […]
