DARRINGTON — Casey West and the crew at the Glacier Peak Cafe are gearing up for a busy weekend, one that they’ve been anticipating for weeks.
Despite recent spring snowfall, the North Cascades Highway is scheduled to open Thursday morning, and that means more hungry Highway 530 traffic coming past the restaurant.
“It’s all we’ve been talking about here,” said West, 25, of Darrington. “The pass being open just about triples our weekend business.”
State Department of Transportation maintenance crews have been working since late March to open the North Cascades Highway, which closes each winter because of heavy snow and the danger of avalanches. The 69-mile stretch of mountainous road, which is part of Highway 20, has been closed since Dec. 4.
Highway 20 is one of four highways that link the west side of the state to the east side, across the Cascade Range. The highway provides an important link for the communities of Darrington and Arlington along scenic Highway 530, which connects with the North Cascades route at Rockport.
Road crews plan to make a final sweep through the 5,400-foot-high Washington Pass area early on Thursday to check for snow that may have fallen overnight, but warmer temperatures will mean that drivers probably will find the roads wet but bare.
They also will see 10-foot-high walls of snow along the road, transportation department spokesman Dustin Terpening said.
“We haven’t seen snow like this for about 10 years,” Terpening said. “It’s been a weird spring.”
State crews set a goal of clearing the North Cascades Highway by May 1, but faced several setbacks along the way because of the heavy snowfall, Terpening said.
The wet snow on the west side of the pass brought down a lot of rock, which limited the use of snow blowers through avalanche zones, he said.
Just about every year the North Cascades Highway is closed for the winter and generally reopens to traffic in April or May.
In some years it reopens early, as it did in 2005 when it opened March 10. The latest opening was June 14, 1974. And the highway never closed during the drought winter of 1976-77.
Along with the economic boost highway opening brings to Darrington, it also makes way for locals who regularly make the mountain crossing, Darrington Mayor Joyce Jones said.
“For us a ride to Winthrop makes a nice day trip,” Jones said.
At Glacier Peak Cafe, the waitresses will be looking for customers heading to cabins in eastern Washington.
“We have our guys who stop here every Friday going over and every Sunday coming back,” West said. “The North Cascades Highway makes a huge difference in our business.”
Drivers headed over the pass can dial 511 from most phones to get updated road information from the state Department of Transportation. Information also is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/ northcascades.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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