DARRINGTON – Right on schedule, the North Cascades Highway opened to traffic at 8 a.m. today.
The first drivers in line when the gates swung open found bare and wet road conditions with temperatures at the summits of Rainy and Washington passes right around the freezing level, state Department of Transportation maintenance crews said.
A trace of new snow fell at about 11 p.m. Wednesday and again about 4 a.m. today, but nothing delayed the opening.
Crews had been working since late March to open the 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, had 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 Highway 530, which connects with the North Cascades route at Rockport.
The weather forecast calls for no more precipitation today and an afternoon high temperature near 60. Another front may bring light rain or possibly snow at the summits on Friday and Saturday nights, but daytime highs will remain in the 60s, allowing for a nice ride for drivers, transportation department spokesman Dustin Terpening 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.
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.
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