During the winter months, Chelan County Public Works crews are focused on keeping roads clear of snow and ice for the safety of travelers.
But there are three common misconceptions about the County’s snow removal process that seem to hit with every first snowfall.
MISCONCEPTION No. 1: When the snow flies, county crews plow around the clock
While county road crews monitor weather and road conditions seven days a week during the winter, crews are not plowing 24 hours a day. To do so would be too costly.
Most days, crews begin plowing in the early morning hours and end in the late afternoon (to ensure school bus routes are cleared). In fact, unless contacted by emergency responders or the sheriff’s office, crews do not plow or sand at night.
In addition, while county maintenance district crews are fully staffed during the week, they are often only staffed at one to two employees on weekends. So it may take longer for some roads to be cleared on the weekend.
MISCONCEPTION No. 2: If it’s a county road, the county plows it
Chelan County makes every effort to maintain roadway access during the winter; however, it’s not possible to plow all roadways during every storm event.
The county has many primitive roads. These include dead end roads that don’t have a place for plows to turn around or even roads that are inaccessible to snow plows during the winter. The county has no budget to increase its primitive road winter maintenance.
Snow- and ice-control efforts are prioritized to assure vital access is maintained throughout the county. That means school bus routes and major arterials are top priorities during a snow event. Local access roads are plowed only after these roads.
Be aware of what type of county road you live on. If you need clarification, call the Public Works office. Check out high priority snow plowing routes or the Code of the West, both of which are on the Public Works website.
MISCONCEPTION No. 3: My road is covered in ice -- I need to call my local district
County crews closely monitor weather conditions and road conditions on a day-to-day basis (sometimes hour-by-hour) during the winter months. That means they are not in the shop office but out on the road doing snow and ice control.
If you need to call between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday, call the Chelan County Public Works main office at 667-6415. Or, you can report a problem on the service request page. Public works crews work closely with RiverCom and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, so if notified by these agencies of a slick or impassable road, our crews are on it.
More importantly, if your County road is impassable, play it safe by keeping off the roads. More details about our snow removal policies are available online.
Last Updated: 08/24/2021 09:03 AM
Archive Disclaimer
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.