Blewett Pass Road Should Be Improved
Chelan and Kittitas Counties May Join Together and Spend Several Thousand Dollars on This Highway
Leavenworth Echo
June 5, 1914

To make an inspection of the roads between this county and Ellensburg, the Kittitas county commissioners last week drove over the mountains via the Blewett Pass road and returned by way of the Colockum road, which crosses the mountains about ten miles east of Wenatchee. The trip was made with a team and light rig. They said they found that the Colockum route had a better grade than the Blewett road, but that it was too expensive a route to fix and maintain.

The elevation at the summit is more than 5,000 feet, which is twice as high as the highest point on the Blewett road. The Ellensburg men state that the Blewett road on the Kittitas county side is in fairly good condition. Going down the Peshastin, however, the road was not only steep, but it was dangerous. In places the road runs along the side of a cliff, with a drop of several hundred feet. An accident here would almost certainly cause death.

At some points it was difficult to get the rig by in safety, all men getting out and helping to hold it on the trail. The commissioners estimated that the road on the Kittitas county side could be put in good shape at an expense of not more than $2,000 or $3,000. On the Chelan side the expense is estimated at nearly $25,000. The government forest service will spend about $2000 on the Chelan side and less on the Kittitas.

The Kittitas county commissioners are in favor of improving the Blewett road and have signified their willingness to help if the commissioners of Chelan county would do likewise. Motorists and good roads advocates are boosting for the Blewett road as it would make an easy and short trip from this county to the Snoqualmie Pass road thru the Cascades, which was recently completed at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars.