In Other News

HOLIDAY CLOSURES

EPHRATA – Local, county, state, and federal offices will be closed and Grant Transit Authority buses will not be operating on Thursday, Jan. 1 in observance of the New Year's Day holiday.

GTA buses will not be in service after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, New Year’s Eve. Routes will return to their regular schedules on Friday, Jan. 2.

There will be no garbage collection by Consolidated Disposal Service trucks on New Year's Day. Instead, Thursday routes will be picked on Friday and Friday routes will be picked up on Saturday this week. Service will be earlier than usual and customers are asked to set their cans out the night beforehand.

WSP EMPHASIS PATROLS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

ELLENSBURG – The Washington State Patrol will be conducting DUI emphasis patrols on New Year’s Eve throughout central Washington’s District 6 region.

“We can avoid unnecessary tragedy by arresting impaired drivers before serious injury or fatality collisions occur,” WSP District 6 Capt. Daniel Richmond said in a press release today (Dec. 31). “We are seeing a statewide decrease in DUI-related fatalities and serious injury collisions, which is exactly why we do these types of emphasis patrols.”

The district includes Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Kittitas counties in partnership with local law enforcement agencies. The patrols will involve multiple troopers with overtime funds provided by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

The State Patrol urged drivers to make “responsible choices” as they welcome the new year. Options include a designated sober driver, public transportation, ride shares such as Uber and Lyft, and companions and hosts who insist on stopping someone who is impaired from driving.

PILOT CAR SHUTTLES ON US 2

LEAVENWORTH – The Washington Department of Transportation on Monday, Dec. 29, began daily pilot car operations on US 2 between Coles Corner and the Stevens Pass summit.

The highway – one of the state’s primary east-west travel corridors over the Cascades – has been closed to through traffic between Leavenworth and Skykomish since Dec. 10 due to major flood damage in multiple locations.

State officials now say the highway will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Coles Corner (milepost 85) and the Stevens Pass summit (mile post 64). Drivers should be prepared for delays up to one hour for the pilot car shuttle. Access to Coles Corner is available via the Chumstick Highway detour from Leavenworth.   

Chelan County has also issued its own traffic alert for the Chumstick Highway because of increased traffic on the route.

Earlier this week, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced that the west side of U.S. Highway 2 between Skykomish and Stevens Pass will fully re-open to traffic starting Sunday, Jan. 4.

“This is fantastic news – better than our best-case scenarios a few weeks ago,” Ferguson said in a press statement. “We understand that when a major highway is closed, the impacts to the community, to individuals and to businesses are significant. We have been very focused on getting Highway 2 as quickly as possible. I want to thank the WSDOT workers and contractors who have been working hard, 24 hours a day, to make this happen.”