Mount Baker Highway opens after months of closures, but drivers should still expect delays
A summer of detours came to an end Monday for drivers on Mount Baker Highway as the road opened for the evening commute between Noon and Britton roads with a new span over Squalicum Creek.
Officials at the Washington State Department of Transportation finished their inspections late Monday and the road opened about 4 p.m., spokeswoman R.B. McKeon told The Bellingham Herald.
Detour and closure signs were being removed and speed limits in detour areas will resume to nearly normal after four months, McKeon said in a phone interview.
Mount Baker Highway closed June 5 between Britton and Noon roads for an $8.8 million project to widen a culvert where Squalicum Creek flows under the road, allowing easier passage for migrating and spawning salmon. It’s part of statewide efforts to boost stream flow because of a 2013 court ruling that said the state must protect salmon runs under treaties with its Indigenous communities.
Not all the work is done, however, and drivers should expect single-lane closures in the construction zone through early November, McKeon said.
Mount Baker Highway will be fully open from 3-8 p.m. daily, McKeon said.
But outside that time, drivers should expect single-lane closures through the work zone. There was no way to predict the timing of those closures, McLeon said.
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 5:34 PM.
