Expect lane closures on U.S. 2 through November

Published 11:18 pm Sunday, September 14, 2008

INDEX — Drivers should plan to face single-lane closures on U.S. 2 near Index starting today, as crews make permanent repairs to a segment of the highway that sank seven feet during a major flood two years ago.

“We’ve got to be careful. We are operating on a landslide,” said Dave Lindberg, a project engineer for the state Department of Transportation.

The $2.9 million project is expected to continue through November. Crews plan to use steel beams to construct a 200-foot-long wall to stabilize the portion of the narrow, winding highway. Timber boards will be used among the beams to make the wall more robust. The beams will be anchored into the hillside with steel cables, some 50 feet long.

During the Election Day Flood in 2006, the ground below the segment of U.S. 2 became saturated and sank seven feet. The state drilled 40-foot-long nails in the earth to temporarily fix the problem, using about $1 million in federal emergency money. The speed limit in the area has been reduced from 60 mph to 35 mph.

Those giant nails are expected to be left below the highway after the wall of steel beams is installed, Lindberg said.

State officials spent months figuring out how to fix the problem permanently, Lindberg said.

“When we are done, the road will be restored to its original configuration, and the original speed limit will be restored,” he said.

The work is part of a series of U.S. 2 improvement projects happening this year.

State crews built a rock-and-gravel buttress to stabilize a portion of the highway near Sunset Falls. The $3.2 million work aims to prevent the highway from sinking on the mountain side.

Also, the state installed centerline rumble strips east of Monroe toward Stevens Pass. The $4 million work aims to prevent crossover collisions along U.S. 2.

Overall improvements of the highway are expected to cost more than $2 billion, according to state officials.