Despite a deluge that washed out highways across Washington, it looks like the Interstate 90 roadway over Snoqualmie Pass has remained in good shape to serve holiday travelers.
The big freeway benefits from less steep topography, compared with Highway 2, where tree and soil slides have closed nearly 50 miles, including Stevens Pass, or Highway 12 east of White Pass, where a washout next to the Naches River is forcing drivers to use local roads.
At the same time, the state has focused on strengthening I-90's reliability, for instance, with new avalanche-control technology and a multidecade road-widening project east of Snoqualmie Pass that also lowered the chance of rockslides.
This month's atmospheric river, and ensuing river floods, damaged only one stretch of I-90 near North Bend, where contractors began repairs affecting two of the four eastbound lanes Friday.
Typically when other passes close, Snoqualmie Pass traffic increases. But that phenomenon mainly affects summer weekends, and diverting winter traffic isn't expected to slow I-90, said spokesperson Summer Derrey of the Washington State Department of Transportation.
It depends on the weather and other factors. I-90 is a good option because it has more capacity, she said.
WSDOT is predicting clogs Christmas week in one spot, where the raging Snoqualmie River scoured the soil near milepost 36 in North Bend, forcing the two-lane repair closure.
However, changing weather can thwart travel plans in an instant.
Just before noon Friday, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Snoqualmie Pass through Saturday night, and for snow to continue through Christmas Day.
Snoqualmie Pass, among the nation's busiest mountain highways, carries an average of 34,000 daily vehicles, about one-fourth of them cargo trucks, on a corridor that fluctuates between two and four lanes each direction.
Both westbound lanes of I-90 approaching Exit 80 near Cle Elum, which were closed earlier this week, reopened Thursday. The overpass girders have been replaced on Bullfrog Road after they were destroyed by an over-height I-90 truckload Oct. 18. Cars and trucks had to bypass the jobsite via the off-ramps but delays were generally five minutes or shorter.
WSDOT's next challenge is to stabilize the two right lanes of eastbound I-90, just east of North Bend, where the Snoqualmie River scoured the soil next to the freeway.
Crews will take several weeks to rebuild the embankment, as a long-term solution, Derrey said, while drivers squeeze into the two left lanes.
The repair contractors will set stones, 4- to 5-feet wide at the base of the slope, then backfill those with smaller rocks, before workers rebuild the pavement shoulder and guardrail.
WSDOT maintenance teams examining I-90 found no other locations where streams threaten to damage road lanes.
The Snoqualmie Pass East widening project along Keechelus Lake has reduced slide risks, WSDOT says. New bridges on I-90 built since the late '00s let snow and small debris slide underneath. Steep slopes were detonated over the years to add lane width, and rock walls fortified by stabilizing rods and wire nets.
Starting this winter, the state has a new remote-control system to trigger explosives, when workers need to occasionally create a pre-emptive avalanche. The new technology is supposed to shorten I-90 closures for avalanche control, so they're 30 to 120 minutes long, instead of requiring up to six hours sometimes, when workers launched artillery into unstable snow.
Major I-90 deck-repair jobs are stopped for the winter, so all lanes are open at the Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River and the steep westbound Denny Creek bridge near Snoqualmie Summit.
Emergency repairs started Wednesday at Highway 2, where washouts and slides Dec. 10 have closed Stevens Pass for nearly 50 miles between Skykomish and Leavenworth. Gov. Bob Ferguson has predicted it won't fully reopen for months.
Merchants in Leavenworth, the Bavarian-themed village known for its illuminated scenes of Christmastown, have encouraged visitors to go there by combining I-90 with a trip through Highway 97 over Blewett Pass.
The Stevens Pass ski area is expected to open this season, with details yet to be announced. Crystal Mountain, affected by a washout on Highway 410, will limit access to 1,000 vehicles that need reservations. White Pass might open Sunday for ski season.
WSDOT says it has 1,500 maintenance employees statewide doing snow and ice removal. Several states are shorthanded due to a national lack of job applicants with commercial driver's licenses, the agency says.
Plowing crews make the rounds 24 hours a day when snowstorms are heavy, and are shifted around the state as accumulations change, Derrey said.
Nonetheless, I-90 can succumb to whiteouts or multiple crashes, which happened Dec. 1, 2023, when 30 trucks spun out, most illegally traveling on snow without tire chains. It still has advantages, Derrey said, because there are more towns, exits, supplies and tow services available, compared with smaller highways.
To check the latest conditions, or subscribe to WSDOT alerts, visit https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/roads-bridges online.
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