Chelan County Deputies Can Now Ticket For Avoiding An Intersection

Drivers in Chelan County who try to avoid an intersection with a stop light or sign by cutting through a parking lot or other property can now be cited.

On Monday, the Chelan County Commissioners voted in favor of adding a new chapter to the municipality's traffic codes making the action illegal.

Commissioner Kevin Overbay says the new law was passed after the County's Sheriff's Office brought the issue to their attention.

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"It was primarily for safety reasons that the Sheriff's Office brought it to the commissioners, and we were able to go ahead and pass it yesterday. So if a deputy within the city limits of Wenatchee or any other city in the county or an unincorporated area of the county sees you at a traffic light using a parking lot as a bypass, you can actually be pulled over and cited."

The Sheriff's Office brought the request before commissioners due to persistent issues with drivers using parking and vacant lots to circumvent signed and signaled intersections in Wenatchee, Chelan, and Leavenworth, as well as other areas of the county.

Overbay says the new rule is already in effect following the commissioners' unanimous 'yay' vote on the rule.

"It actually goes into effect immediately and it is a traffic infraction that currently holds a fine amount of one-hundred-and-thirty-nine dollars."

No one at Monday's meeting offered any public comment regarding the new law.

Neighboring Douglas County and the Cities of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee do not have a similar rule on their books, meaning only deputies with the Chelan County Sheriff's Office can enforce the law within their jurisdiction.