Road project starts next month north of Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE — Work will begin in late February on a project to reduce the possibility of rocks falling onto State Route 17 north of Soap Lake. Miguel Castillo, engineer on the project for the Washington State Department of Transportation, said the project is scheduled to start Feb. 20. The project area is the section of SR 17 from Soap Lake to the Lake Lenore Caves, where the road runs between Soap Lake or Lake Lenore and the rock embankment. Due to the intricate nature of the work, he estimated the project will take about seven months to complete. “There’s a lot of work there,” Castillo said. “All that work is very slow – it is time-consuming.”