Chuckanut Drive re-opening on the horizon. Check out slide debris progress
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Crews cleared most slide debris; reopening of Chuckanut Drive eyed for June 19.
- Workers installed 40 of 50 planned rock bolts to stabilize the slide-prone cliff.
- Officials warn public to avoid work zone after repeated breaches by pedestrians.
Chuckanut Drive may soon reopen to traffic several weeks after a rockslide just south of Whatcom County forced a closure.
Construction crews hope to have the road open to the public by June 19, although the deadline could change depending on a number of factors, according to Chief Inspector of the Washington State Department of Transportation Mount Vernon Project Office Larry Biggs.
The rockslide occurred April 22, and while there were no injuries the highway was completely blocked. The rockslide is located south of the Skagit County border, past The Oyster Bar between milepost 9 and 10. The original pileup of rocks was about 20 feet high, according to a post made at the time by Washington State Trooper Kelsey Harding.
Most of the rocks have already been cleared, and the bigger ones have been broken down with the use of jackhammer attachments on excavators. Some of the larger rocks were about the size of an average car at about 12-15 feet across, Biggs told The Herald in a June 12 interview at the site of the slide.
Most of the rocks have been taken to North Hill Resources, a landscaping supply store in Burlington, Biggs said.
The crews have scaled back a lot of the cliff side, which clears any overburdening rock and loose material including tree roots and plants that may still be embedded, Biggs said. Scaling the slope provides easier access for crews and significantly reduces the likelihood of falling debris while crews are in the area.
Crews are using man lifts (cranes with baskets on them) to install rock bolts in the side of the cliff. Rock bolts act as anchors that hold the cliff together and help prevent slides.
Rock bolts are created by drilling 10-25 feet into the side of the cliff. A steel rod is then inserted, and concrete is pumped in which hardens to create an anchor, with one end of the rod sticking out the side of the cliff about a foot and half. A washer and bolt is fitted onto the road to hold it in place.
Biggs said they plan to install around 50 rock bolts along the cliff and had completed about 40 as of Thursday.
One lane has been cleared on Chuckanut Drive but it’s for construction use only to give workers more space. Because the road is slightly slanted and curved, man lifts cannot be used directly on the asphalt or they could tip over. Construction workers built a flat base out of leftover debris and rock to create a working area.
Once the rock bolts are installed, crews will clean up the rest of the rock and debris covering the road and then begin to repair the damaged road that and replace the guardrail.
Biggs said there haven’t been any unusual problems with the project except for the pedestrians and cyclists who want to get past the barricade. He said it’s a daily problem.
“We have between five and 20 pedestrians who want to walk through here daily,” Biggs said. “And they will wait at our barricades as we are closing up at night. We will tell them they can’t walk through, and they will tell us, blatantly, that they are waiting for us to leave so they can take a selfie with the hillside.”
Biggs said people should absolutely not move past the barricade at any time, for their own safety. The problem has gotten so bad, workers have had to put up a locked chain-link fence before the work site to keep people out.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 10:11 AM.
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