Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham reopens after Saturday landslide
UPDATE 7:53 a.m. Feb. 12, 2020: The Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted Tuesday, Feb. 11, that Chuckanut Drive has reopened after crews cleared debris from Saturday’s landslide.
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A landslide closed Chuckanut Drive at least until Sunday, Feb. 9, state and Whatcom County officials said Saturday, Feb. 8.
A “moderate” slide of rocks, trees and dirt closed the road near Clayton Beach about 1:20 p.m., said John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management.
“They’re still assessing it — it’s still coming down” Gargett told The Bellingham Herald.
No injuries or damage to cars were reported.
A spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Transportation said Chuckanut Drive, also called state Highway 11, was closed from Blanchard Road in Skagit County north to the Samish Bay overlook.
That location is about 2 1/2 miles south of the entrance to Larrabee State Park and the park remained open, said WSDOT’s DiAngela Millar.
In addition, Bryce Fegley said via Twitter message that the closure was south of the Clayton Beach parking lot.
Millar said a geologist was being sent to examine the slope and see if it was safe for crews to begin clearing debris.
Chuckanut Drive closes periodically because of slides, especially after heavy rain.
Officials at the National Weather Service in Seattle warned that the threat of landslides continues across Western Washington in the wake of recent heavy rain and flooding.
Bellingham rainfall for the first seven days of February is 2.74 inches, just shy of February’s average monthly rainfall of 3.13 inches.
This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
