Welcome to Skagit County

April 8, 2004

NORTH CASCADES HIGHWAY REOPENS THURSDAY, APRIL 8

WENATCHEE – The North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) will reopen to traffic at

10:00 a.m., Thursday, April 8, despite widespread flooding and massive rockslides that destroyed the highway, caused millions of dollars of damage, and forced the highway’s earliest closure ever.

“The North Cascades Highway is opening about a month earlier than normal,” said WSDOT Okanogan Maintenance Superintendent Dan Gates. “The washed out sections are rebuilt, the paving is done, the snow avalanche danger is low and it’s safe to open to the public.”

Ordinarily, the annual reopening effort takes about two months. That wasn't the case this year. The reopening effort took exactly one month, March 8 to April 8, thanks to maintenance crews' hard work, a low snow pack, few avalanche threats, and cooperative weather.

"Considering what our crews went through this winter, this spring opening is impressive," said WSDOT assistance regional administrator Todd Harrison. "The damage caused by flooding and rockslides was extraordinary. Many people thought that the highway wouldn't open at all this summer. Despite all of the hardships, we are opening the highway two weeks earlier than normal,” said Harrison.

October flooding and November rockslides forced us to close the highway. WSDOT worked diligently to repair extensive flood damage before winter snow and extreme avalanche danger forced work to stop. The rebuilding and repair work of damaged sections of highway was nearly finished by Thanksgiving. Winter weather forced WSDOT crews to leave paving and guardrail work for spring.

The flood damage was exacerbated by one of the largest rockslides in North American history. A rockslide of two-to-three million cubic yards steamed off the hillside at Afternoon Creek and Falls Creek, near Newhalem, and demolished the highway. The threat of more rockslides forced the highway to remain closed. The official season closure of the highway was announced December 15.

Currently, the highway is safe for motorists. State-of-the-art electronic devices, borrowed from the United State Geological Survey, monitor Afternoon Creek and Falls Creek above

Highway 20. Geophones connected to warning signs on the highway listen for rock movement and warn drivers to stop if a rock fall does occur. WSDOT monitors the hillside constantly. Few rocks moved during the past four months and no rocks reached the roadway.

While monitors remain in place through this summer, construction on a more permanent fix begins in May. Crews will build a large rock ditch between the North Cascades Highway and the Falls Creek Hillside. The ditch will act as a buffer zone and provide a safe place for rocks to fall. Crews will excavate the hillside back 80 feet or more to build the ditch. One lane of traffic will remain open during construction. There will be no lane closures on weekends or holidays. Motorists should be prepared for short, temporary delays during construction.

“This year there were different challenges during spring snow removal,” said Gates. “While the accumulations at the bottom of the avalanche chutes were half of what we usually get, there were other places where rocks, mud and trees had washed down and were buried in snow. We couldn’t use the snow blowers there and widening with a front-end loader is a lot slower.”

Crews discovered smaller washed out sections of shoulders and pavement that had to be repaired and patched before traffic could use the highway. Many of the culverts under the highway had to be cleared of mud, rocks and trees.

In 2002, the highway closed on December 16 and re-opened in the spring of 2003 on April 14th, a week later than this year.

The earliest recorded closure since the highway opened in 1973 was November 8, 1994. The latest closure was January 3, 1990.

The earliest recorded opening was March 22, 2001, while the latest was June 14, 1974. During the drought winter of 1976-1977 the highway never closed.

Forty-seven miles of Highway 20 are usually closed in the winter, from seven miles west of Diablo Dam (milepost 120) on the west side of 4,855’Rainy Pass to seven miles west of Mazama (milepost 177) to the east of 5,477’ Washington Pass.

For more information about the spring opening, flooding damage, rockslide damage, or the rock ditch, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/northcascades.