WSDOT announces closure dates for Mount Baker highway repairs near Glacier
A section of Mount Baker Highway (SR 542) will be closed for five days beginning Monday, Feb. 2 for emergency repairs, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Repair work will be done on a 70-foot stretch east of Glacier at O’Keefe Creek (milepost 43), where the highway was damaged by landslides during the atmospheric river event in December.
The road was temporarily closed Dec. 12 as a result of the slides, but the state reopened one lane Dec. 21. An automated signal has been used to direct traffic past the closed lane.
Contractor crews working for WSDOT will repair the damaged culvert, rebuild the roadbed, pave, and install striping and a new guardrail, according to WSDOT.
The highway is expected to reopen late in the afternoon on Friday, Feb. 6, although dry weather is needed for some of the repairs, WSDOT said.
Crews will remain in the area for streambed repair after the highway reopens, and people traveling the road should expect flaggers to alternate traffic while crews are in the area, according to WSDOT.
WSDOT crews are also working to wrap up embankment and pavement repairs on Mount Baker Highway to the east of Wells Creek Road (milepost 41). WSDOT said drivers should expect alternating traffic in the area.
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