Forum Index > Trail Talk > I-90 Traffic Advisory weekend of Sept 16-18
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Elvis
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Elvis
Shuffl'n
PostFri Sep 16, 2005 11:45 am 
As a recipient of the following email, and knowing a lot of you use I-90 for travel to trailheads... thought I'd post this from WSDOT: > Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) > > South Central Region - PO Box 12560 -Yakima, WA 98909-2560 > > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2005 > > Contact(s): Mike Westbay, Region Communications Manager > (509) 945-7702, (509) 577-1617 > westbam@wsdot.wa.gov <mailto:westbam@wsdot.wa.gov> > > Travelers advised to adjust travel plans > > Yakima - WSDOT advises motorists planning to travel west this weekend > on I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass to reconsider their travel plans. Just > west of the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, I-90 is reduced from three > lanes to one where Scarsella Brothers construction is stabilizing a > rock slope where a sudden rockslide killed three women last week. > > WSDOT officials predict westbound backups on Saturday during the > day, due to the reduction of three westbound lanes to one. There will > be extra traffic from the east traveling to Seattle as football fans > head to the WSU/Grambling game and the UW/Idaho game. > > On Sunday, if travelers don't use alternate routes or postpone > their westbound travel, traffic will back up from mid-morning through > the evening hours. WSDOT traffic engineers predict westbound > travelers crossing Snoqualmie Pass will wait in backups a number of > hours. "Half of the normal westbound Sunday travelers have to be gone > from I-90 or we will have a major breakdown of the system," cautions > Don Whitehouse, regional administrator for WSDOT in Yakima. > > Mike Westbay, regional spokesperson for the Washington State > Department of Transportation, advises travelers, "If you don't have to > use I-90 westbound across Snoqualmie Pass this weekend, don't." > Travelers are encouraged to reconsider plans requiring travel across > mountain passes this weekend. For trips that can't be avoided, be > prepared for hours of delay, by having a full gas tank, ample > windshield wiper fluids, water, snacks, and blankets. > > To add to weekend traffic concerns, the westbound I-90 floating > bridge crossing to Seattle will be closed from 10pm to 7am Friday, > Saturday and possible Sunday night for weight tests related to Sound > Transit and potential light rail across the bridge. Travelers will be > directed to available detours. > > Travelers are encouraged to check I-90 conditions and listen to the > highway advisory radio at > www.atmos.washington.edu/maciver/roadview/i90/ > <http://www.atmos.washington.edu/maciver/roadview/i90/> . Updated > statewide travel conditions are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic > <http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic> , by dialing 5-1-1, and by tuning > to the highway advisory radio. > All lanes of I-90 were closed Sunday at 1:45 a.m. when several tons > of rock fell onto the roadway, crushing a car and leaving three women dead. > Monday evening, another large boulder fell. At that time, WSDOT > decided the best course of action was to close the two right lanes, > install a rock-catching fence and pull all dangerous material off the mountainside. > > WSDOT and the contractor have installed a 12-foot high rock fence, > and are sending rock scalers to areas above the slide and 150 yards on > either side of the slide to pry off loose material. A powerful > machine will pound the rock wall to get anything else that is left. > Once that's done, Pacific Blasting of Vancouver B.C. will insert 20- > to 40-foot long pins to bolt remaining rocks in place. Then crews will > truck out more than 600 tons of granite from the slide.

"Ill habits gather unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas." ~John Dryden My Trip List
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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostFri Sep 16, 2005 11:46 am 
One lane special heading west just past the summit. Like traffic jam city this weekend. Make like a race car driver for Stevens....

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Elvis
Shuffl'n



Joined: 09 Jun 2004
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Location: del Boca Vista
Elvis
Shuffl'n
PostFri Sep 16, 2005 12:05 pm 
Alternatively, bring your bicycle and take the Iron Horse trail up & over. hockeygrin.gif

"Ill habits gather unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas." ~John Dryden My Trip List
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Snowshoe Hare
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Snowshoe Hare
Defunct lagomorph
PostFri Sep 16, 2005 3:05 pm 
If anyone is surprised by getting stuck in traffic at Snoq Pass after all the media attention lately must've been in a cave. shakehead.gif doh.gif

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Sep 16, 2005 3:19 pm 
Actully there is a secret detour route around it paranoid.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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cheakamus
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cheakamus
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PostFri Sep 16, 2005 8:52 pm 
If there were a way around, don't you think WSDOT would reroute traffic to take advantage of it? In any case, the backup from the work area promises to extend miles beyond any possible detour, so you'll be stuck in traffic anyway. I had planned a hike for Sunday off Route 2. Now I'm reevaluating that idea because I think the overflow from 90 will make 2 even worse than usual (and I usually avoid it on Sundays anyway).

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Snowshoe Hare
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Snowshoe Hare
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PostSat Sep 17, 2005 9:24 am 
cheakamus wrote:
If there were a way around, don't you think WSDOT would reroute traffic to take advantage of it?
Not necessarily if it was on FS roads, etc. rolleyes.gif

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostSat Sep 17, 2005 9:42 am 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Actully there is a secret detour route around it paranoid.gif
The old highway around Denny Creek..... Not many people know about that.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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solohiker
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solohiker
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PostSun Sep 18, 2005 3:06 pm 
I had been counting on the Denny Creek road as an alternative for my return when heading east last Thurs, but alas, someone pointed out this would be of little assistance if the backed-up traffic goes all the way back to the Kachess lake exit (as they were expecting). Now there are some ol logging roads from there, that may be accessible, but I wouldn't really put them in the secret way around category... Anyway, I left much earlier today than planned and had no trouble coming through the slide spot at 1:30 pm, hardly had to use the breaks. Seemed like much ado about nothin' but the boulders all over the two right lanes of highway are certainly impressive! Until this spot is fixed, though, timing will be important for westbound traffic beginning anywhere east of Hyak. Don't try to do it during standard high-volume traffic times. But if you're parked on the pass (for hiking)- or one of the roads outta Hyak - just use the old Denny Creek road to get one exit west of the summit if you can see the freeway is a parking lot. *edit - in response to an earlier post: Denny Creek road is a viable way "around" for most cars (if your are already at the pass), but WSDOT couldn't route all pass traffic that way. It's steep, narrow, and has a couple tight hairpin turns, with very little margin of error. It's not made to handle either the traffic volume or the size of many vehicles that travel 1-90 on a daily basis.

I have never been lost, but I'll admit to being confused for several weeks. - Daniel Boone
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JimK
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JimK
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PostSun Sep 18, 2005 7:05 pm 
Total gridlock as expected. It took me a full 10 minutes to get from the pass to Denny Creek at about 5:30 PM. smile.gif

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SlowWalker
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Joined: 23 Aug 2005
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SlowWalker
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PostMon Sep 19, 2005 9:34 am 
I actually changed my plans based on that strong warning from DOT, and if I hadn't found something great to do anyway, I'd be bummed that I changed plans for only a 10 minute delay. Perhaps one reason it wasn't so bad is that more than a few people changed plans just like I did? I'm not bummed though. I had a great motorcycle ride over to Ellensburg, down the canyon road and across Chinook Pass on 410. The Sat/ Sun trip to Spectacle Lake is simply postponed to this coming weekend. Road work should be done by then I think.

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JimK
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PostMon Sep 19, 2005 9:40 am 
Let me reiterate. It was total gridlock. I bet it was at least a 30+ minute delay from the summit alone. I couldn't see how far back the stopped traffic began. People were getting on the summit on ramp while the back door was wide open. I can't believe so few people realized there was an alternative.

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Snowshoe Hare
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Snowshoe Hare
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PostMon Sep 19, 2005 10:41 am 
Traffic cams showed backups from at least late afternoon until at least 8pm last night from Hyak to Franklin Falls westbound.

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