The good news: Our SR 20 North Cascades Highway crews have achieved that magic moment when our west side and east side crews meet at Rainy Pass! The not-as-great news – there is up to 16 inches of snow in the forecast for this weekend so while we expect the highway to open to traffic sometime next week, we can’t say which day until we see what happens weather-wise this weekend, as besides snow we could see rock slides and possibly will need to do more avalanche control.
All that said, if you want to ride your bicycle on the North Cascades Highway, this is likely the last weekend you will be able to do so before the gates open to cars so grab your winter coat, beanie and mittens, be aware of possible avalanche concerns, and head up if you wish.
The last few miles were some of the slowest going, with snow depths over 6 feet, making it necessary to use an excavator to knock down the snow from above before the blower could clear the roadway. We also did pavement and guardrail repair and more avalanche control. We will have another update on Monday when we get through this weekend to pinpoint an opening date.
Original source can be found here.
