This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
Crews working to clear snow and ice from North Cascades Highway say they’re getting closer to reopening the roadway.
Snow plows working to clear the east and west sides of the highway have now met in the middle, at Milepost 157 of SR 20.
That’s the good news.
But the bad news is, there’s still a large rockslide at milepost 134, and washouts between mileposts 142 and 146.
Washington State Dept. of Transportation officials say planning is now underway for emergency repairs at each of those sites.
Crews will continue to work to reopen the highway between 6:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
Clearing of the highway began March 23.
According to a WSDOT News Release, the road surface is rough and has compact snow and ice still in some places, and drainages have not been cleared so if there’s rain, there may be mud, dirt, snow slides, or runoff on the roadway.
Also, on Wednesday, 13 inches of fresh snow fell at Rainy Pass and seven inches at Washington Pass.
Road crews made plans to remove the new fresh snowfall over the weekend.