Slope repairs will slow U.S. 2 drivers

Published 9:32 am Monday, August 4, 2008

INDEX — Starting Tuesday, drivers crossing Stevens Pass are expected to face up to 20-­minute closures along U.S. 2 just east of Index.

Crews plan to build a rock-and-gravel buttress to stabilize a segment of the winding highway near Sunset Falls. The $3.2 million work aims to prevent the highway from sinking on the mountain side, said Meghan Soptich, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

Another part of U.S. 2 near the project site sank more than 7 feet, following the Election Day flood in November 2006. As a temporary fix, workers hammered dozens of 40-foot-long nails into the slope and built a 130-foot-long wall to hold the road.

This week, crews plan to use explosives to blast a 300-foot-long notch into the bedrock layer south of the highway near Sunset Falls to secure the foundation of the buttress.

“It’s pretty far away from the road and in the ground,” Soptich said.

During the work, drivers can expect intermittent closures near Sunset Falls, east of Index, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Tuesday to Thursday. There’s no alternative route for divers.

“We don’t want them to be surprised when they get stuck in traffic and have to wait,” Soptich said.

The work is scheduled to wrap up this fall.

Improving the stretch is a part of several U.S. 2 safety projects happening this year. This week, the state plans to start building a new westbound bus pullout in Sultan. Earlier this year, the state installed a centerline rumble strip along the highway between east of Monroe and Stevens Pass to prevent crossover crashes.

Overall improvements for U.S. 2 are estimated to cost more than $2 billion.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.