By Sheila Corson
Chronicle staff

     OMAK - Crews are clearing the ground along Ross Canyon Road, which soon will soon be closed part time for construction.
     The street from Riverside Drive to Ironwood will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday starting June 15 for at least four weeks, City Administrator Ralph Malone said.
     Crews will straighten the road, moving into the hillside and adding a retaining wall and new curbs. The work should be finished the first week of August.
     By closing the street, the work will get done sooner and both crews and the public will be safer, Public Works Director Jim Miller said.
     Work that could have taken 16 weeks will take seven, Malone said.
     Until the road is open, officials recommend motorists from the flats avoid the area by going around to Kermel Road to the west or Robinson Canyon Road to the east.
     The work will allow for a traffic light to be placed at the intersection of Ross Canyon Road and Riverside Drive some time in the future, Malone said.
     The total cost of the project is about $1.1 million.