Public Works
Road Maintenance
Maintenance District Information
GUARDRAIL REPAIRS
A contractor for the county will be replacing damaged guardrail around Chelan County beginning on Aug. 10. The contractor will begin in Wenatchee, working on portions of Mission Ridge and Squilchuck roads. That work should take about two weeks. The crew then will move to Stine Hill in Cashmere, Chumstick Highway in Leavenworth and Gill Creek Road near Stevens Pass. When working, traffic is at one lane in the work area, with flaggers directing motorists. Minor traffic delays may occur. Guardrail work is expected to take about 12 working days.
WEEKLY UPDATE
Information regarding maintenance work occurring in the county maintenance districts for the week of Aug. 17, 2020:
| District 1 (Wenatchee) |
Crews will be brooming recently chip-sealed roads and removing utility caps from recently chip-sealed roads. |
| District 2 (Cashmere) |
On Monday, crews will be skip patching on Camas Road. Skip patching is when crews chip seal just a section of a road that needs repairs. The goal is to seal that section from water, providing a temporary fix until the entire roadway can be scheduled for chip sealing. On Camas Road, motorists should watch for one-lane, flagger-controlled traffic on that road. Plan for minor delays. For the rest of the week, the Cashmere crew will assist with skip patching in the Leavenworth District. |
| District 3 (Leavenworth) |
Crews will be hand patching potholes on upper routes. When skip patching moves to the Leavenworth District, crews will be on Beaver Valley Road and Upper Chumstick Road. When crews are skip patching, motorists should expect one-lane, flagger-controlled traffic with minor delays. |
| District 4 (Entiat) |
The crew will be doing general maintenance around the district, including patching potholes and checking drainages. |
| District 5 (Chelan) |
In the Manson area, the crew will be brush cutting and hand patching potholes. The crew also will be doing shoulder stabilization work. If time allows, the crew will start skip patching late in the week on Antoine Creek Road. Also planned for skip patching is Union Valley Road. When crews are skip patching, motorists should expect one-lane, flagger-controlled traffic with minor delays. |
Need to find out which Chelan County Maintenance District you live in? Go to Maintenance Districts Map.
Vegetation Management
Chelan County’s primary objectives for roadside vegetation management are:
- Provide for safe travel on County roads.
- Preservation of roadway infrastructure with desirable vegetation and stable roadsides.
- Compliance with legal regulations concerning control of noxious weeds.
Herbicides are a cost-effective method of maintaining vegetation, and selective use over time require, less product to manage vegetation as native grasses and low-growing plants fill in along roadsides.
Why does the County use herbicide to thin brush?
Safe travel requires maintaining sight distance at corners, curves and intersections, ensuring water flows off of pavement and providing areas for vehicles to safely pull off the road. This is accomplished with pruning, vegetation removal or herbicide thinning of deciduous vegetation.
Herbicide thinning is only used on brush and trees (apart from landscape vegetation or commercial farms after Sept. 1). Only the limbs of the plant sprayed are affected and those limbs will not leaf out the following year. It does not kill the plant.
What herbicides are used in the residual program?
When the spray zone is near sensitive areas, such as orchards, vineyards, residences and rivers, lakes and irrigation canals, the chemicals used in these areas are soft residual products that are safe to use up to the water’s edge and near orchards, vineyards or landscaping. In non-sensitive areas, different herbicides with selective properties can be used to address vegetation control issues.
Why control noxious weeds?
The County is required by state law to control all listed noxious weeds that occur on the right-of-way (RCW 17.10). The County is also sensitive to the needs and concerns of adjacent landowners, both for controlling the spread of noxious weeds and the need for use of herbicides to control vegetation.
All herbicides used by the County are on the State of Washington Vegetation Management Contract. The Washington State Department of Transportation has completed toxicological and risk analysis for all herbicides on the contract and summaries can be accessed on its website. These herbicides have been determined to be the least toxic to mammals, fish and invertebrates.
When does the County spray for noxious weeds?
Control of noxious weeds is performed from mid-May to mid-September. Selective herbicides are used in non-sensitive areas to promote the establishment of perennial grasses. Non-selective herbicide (Roundup®) is used in sensitive areas as it is one of just a few herbicides that is relatively safe to use near landscaping, orchards and vineyards.
Posted: 10/20/2014 11:08 AM
Last Updated: 08/13/2020 03:23 PM