An aerial view of U.S. Highway 12 shows the washout near the White Pass Summit.
An aerial view of U.S. Highway 12 shows the washout near the White Pass Summit.
U.S. Highway 12 was closed in both directions Tuesday after this washout near White Pass.
U.S. Highway 12 was closed in both directions Tuesday after this washout near White Pass.
U.S. Highway 12 was closed in both directions Tuesday after this washout near White Pass.
State transportation officials will reopen one lane of U.S. Highway 12 near the White Pass summit Friday afternoon following a closure initiated Tuesday after a washout along a steep embankment adjacent to the roadway.
An automated signal will direct alternating traffic through a quarter-mile area near the washout, just east of White Pass, when the highway reopens, according to WSDOT. Commercial vehicles will not be allowed through when the single-lane opens.
Until this weekend, the roadway remains closed in both directions for about 45 miles from milepost 183 near the Oak Creek feeding station to milepost 138 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and state Route 123.
WSDOT contractor DBM Inc., Federal Way, will pave the ditch and shoulder along the hillside to make room for one lane of traffic. DBM Inc. is determining how to fix the washout, either by repairing the existing wall or building a new retaining wall.
“The repair work will be going on while the traffic is alternating,” WSDOT spokeswoman Meagan McFadden said. “They are looking at some options to do a retaining wall or secure the wall that is currently there.”
Gov. Jay Inslee signed an emergency proclamation today that allows state and local agencies to pursue federal emergency relief funds to restore the highway, WSDOT said.
The estimated cost to repair the washout is about $800,000 with a timeline of 30 days.
“It’s not going to be a permanent fix,” McFadden said. “It’s an emergency repair to get through the winter. Next spring, we will design and open up to bid on a permanent fix.”
Several days of heavy rain last weekend combined with erosion and a slope failure caused the washout, officials said.
Crews closed the roadway Tuesday morning after learning about the washout, which is about 120 feet wide and growing south of the roadway.
State Route 410 and state Route 123 have been used as alternate routes during the closure. However, WSDOT said commercial traffic is prohibited on both alternate routes.
Commercial traffic will have to use Interstate 90 and Interstate 5, McFadden said, since the oversized vehicles are not allowed through the one-lane opening or the alternate routes.
About 1,800 cars per day drive through White Pass on U.S. Highway 12, according to WSDOT.
Local access remains allowed on U.S. Highway 12 with eastbound traffic allowed to proceed from the closure west of the summit near milepost 138 to the summit near milepost 151.
From east of the summit, westbound local traffic will be allowed to proceed from the closure near milepost 183 to milepost 158 near the upper intersection with Tieton Road.
The closures will be lifted once the single-lane is open.
The washout of U.S. Highway 12 is similar to an incident in 1995, according to WSDOT.
