Some good news and some tough news to share
information released
Happy Thursday, North Cascade Highway fans!
It’s Week 4, and we’ve got some good news and some tough news, so let’s get to it.
The good news: Eastside and Westside crews meet!
Our east and west crews met Tuesday at milepost 157! This is always a fun milestone because it means the road is mostly cleared. We uploaded a video of that moment to our Flickr album.
That said, snow removal is just one step of the process. The road remains officially closed to traffic until repairs can be made. The road surface is rough and has compact snow and ice still in some places. Drainages have not been cleared yet, so if there’s rain, there may be mud, dirt/snow slides, or run off on the roadway.
The supervisor for the eastside crew reports that we’ll do some minor widening next week. He adds: “We are starting to work on culverts and drainage issues that we are finding as the snow melts back.”
Additionally, we saw 13″ of fresh snow on Rainy Pass and 7″ of snow on Washington Pass Wednesday night. Our eastside supervisor thinks the vast majority of snow will be removed by this weekend, but if you do plan to adventure into the back country this weekend, check in with the Northwest Avalanche Center. and remember there is no cell service in the mountains. Be prepared.
The tough news: Avoid Ross Dam trailhead and beyond
This year will be a little different. Even after the road is cleared and we’ve finished widening and clearing drains, we still have a rockslide and washouts to contend with.
We’re asking you to avoid the area beyond the annual closure point of the North Cascades Highway at Ross Dam trailhead (milepost 134) until safe roadway conditions are re-established. There are multiple damaged areas beyond the gates that require repair.
Until repairs are completed, this is not the area for bicycling, snowmobiling, snowshoeing or any other outdoor activity.
To recap, there’s a large rockslide at milepost 134. Further east, we have washouts between mileposts 142-146. Emergency repairs are in the planning stages, and both these areas will soon be active work zones seven days a week.
An active work zone Monday-Thursday
Since we still have work to do, this is your friendly reminder to not access the area during hours crews are scheduled to work (Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.). Any changes to the work schedule will be shared on the real time travel map.
Remember: the road is otherwise closed and unmaintained between milepost 134 and 178, and there is no cell service on the passes.
Thanks for bearing with us as the tricky hand Nature dealt us over the winter complicates our clearing efforts this spring. We’ll keep you updated on the emergency repair plans!
Rachel Terlep, Statewide Social Media Manager
rachel.terlep@wsdot.wa.gov
