Chuckanut Drive is open again after two rock slides closed highway for eight days

Chuckanut Drive has reopened Thursday for the second time in eight days after two rock slides in the same place closed the road last week, state highway officials said.

The state Department of Transportation announced the re-opening on Twitter at about 5:10 p.m.

The first of the two slides was reported at about 2:30 a.m. March 15, north of the highway’s intersection with Pacific Rim Drive. The slide left several boulders sitting in the northbound lane and smaller rocks scattered across the road. It also damaged a concrete barrier and uprooted a tree.

It took officials about a day-and-a-half to get the debris removed and the road reopened. It was open for less than two hours before another slide occurred in the same place, said Ally Barrera, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Crews closed the road again at about 7 p.m. on March 16.

Since then, crews have been surveying the slope and ensuring its stability before opening it again, Barrera said. Contractors, she added, spent much of Thursday removing the debris by hand.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Chuckanut Drive is open again after two rock slides closed highway for eight days."