Stevens Pass reopens after crews moved massive amounts of snow, ice
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By KIRO 7 News Staff
STEVENS PASS, Wash. — After the Washington State Department of Transportation cleared and reopened Stevens Pass and Tumwater Canyon Thursday morning, U.S. 2 was closed later that night due to snowslides.
It reopened around 7 a.m. Friday after crews clear the highway.
As of Thursday, it had been a week since the pass was forced to shut down during last week’s record-breaking snowfall, followed by drenching rain this week.
Since the closure, crews have had to deal with dangerous and difficult conditions to get the road ready for traffic again.
WSDOT said crews saw some of the largest snowslides in recent memory. To complicate issues, the slides were full of trees, rocks and debris, which required equipment other than snow blowers to clear.
In Tumwater Canyon, crews had to clear more than 200 snowslides.
There was also the issue of avalanche danger during the roadwork. Heavy rain on Tuesday created further avalanche danger on the west side of the pass and created new slides in Tumwater Canyon. The safety risks caused crews to be pulled out of the area.
On Wednesday morning, avalanche control work was completed, but it caused more snow and large debris to come down onto the highway.
There were also areas that had 4-inch-thick slabs of ice that needed to be removed.
Road work on Stevens Pass Crews were forced to shut down U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass during record-breaking snowfall, followed by drenching rain, which caused high avalanche danger as crews worked to remove mountains of snow and ice (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass .WSDOT said crews saw some of the largest snow slides in recent memory. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass To complicate issues, the slides were full of trees, rocks and debris which required equipment other than snow blowers to clear. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass In Tumwater Canyon, crews had to clear more than 200 snow slides. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass There was also the issue of avalanche danger during the roadwork. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass The safety risks caused crews to be pulled out of the area. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass Heavy rain created further avalanche danger on the west side of the pass and created new slides in Tumwater Canyon. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass Crews also had to remove 4-inch-thick ice on parts of the road. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass Avalanche control work caused more snow and large debris to come down onto the highway. (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass (WSDOT Twitter)
Road work on Stevens Pass WSDOT said one concern when they reopen U.S. 2 is deer seen saw hunkering down near the Wenatchee River. The snow was too deep or unstable for them to climb canyon walls and the only place for them to walk was in a single lane cleared by crews. Pickup trucks were used to safely herd them out of the way. WSDOT said once the highway reopens, drivers should be alert. The deer are going to be tired and hungry, and may not be able to move out of the road as quickly as usual. (WSDOT Twitter)