NEAH BAY — A mudslide that hit the main highway along the Olympic Peninsula’s northwest coast is still blocking a full lane of the road.
State Highway 112 connects Neah Bay with Sekiu and other points east, and although traffic can meander through the slide between Sekiu and the Makah reservation, no date has been set for the full reopening of the road.
The earliest day Highway 112 could fully reopen is Friday, said Kelly Stowe, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
“There was a lot of debris this time,” she said of the slide about 5 miles east of the Makah reservation boundary.
Last week, weather slowed the road crew’s efforts to move truckloads of debris, and more rain forecast to arrive this week might delay the full opening of the road even longer, she said.
One lane of the highway remains open, allowing access to Neah Bay.
The Makah tribe briefly opened a logging road for local traffic to bypass the slide when Highway 112 was fully blocked.
The 100-foot slide ripped up several hundred feet of guardrail, shattering the posts, and making a new shoulder for Highway 112.
Between 3,500 and 4,000 cubic yards of mud and debris covered both lanes of the road in the slide, located south of Rasmussen Creek.
The road under the slide is undamaged and can be reopened as soon as the debris is removed and the hillside is stabilized, Stowe said.
_________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
