Slide closes Peter Dan Road again

A slide of rocks and mud covered Peter Dan Road about a half mile from SR-155 Tuesday morning, forcing a detour until mid-afternoon and recalling a massive effort to keep the hillside from sloughing off.

Okanogan County Emergency Management texted an alert at 6:40 a.m. to its subscribers, letting them know of the road closure as people got ready to go to work or school.

Peter Dan runs between Elmer City and Keller, plus the Buffalo Lake area.

The road remained closed until about 2:15 p.m.

The slide had completely blocked both lanes with several feet of the hillside in at least one place, and partially in another nearby.

Okanogan County Public Works officials were assessing the slide early Tuesday to determine if it could be safely reopened.

The hillside was completely re-engineered in the fall of 2018 to help prevent such damage after a bigger slide in March of 2017 forced the road closed.

A temporary hump over the slide had to suffice for local travelers while the county roads people secured a grant for over $2 million to fix it.