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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Snoqualmie Pass reopens in both directions

Staff and wire reports The Spokesman-Review
Interstate 90 through Snoqualmie Pass is now open in both directions. The Washington Transportation Department reopened eastbound lanes at 9 a.m. Friday and westbound lanes at noon. Blewett Pass remains closed. Highway 2 through Stevens Pass reopened Thursday after a two-day closure caused by heavy snow and avalanche danger. The department says Highway 12 through White Pass is not a viable east-west route due to flooding and a washout. But traffic is allowed on parts of the highway that had been closed. Traction devices are recommended, according to the Washington Department of Transportation. Portions of White Pass are still treacherous, officials say. Meanwhile, metro traffic and Interstate 90 in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene was moving along as if it were spring, officials said. “It’s quiet,” Trooper Mark Baker with the Washington State Patrol said. There was black ice on the roadways, but drivers are doing well. The Transportation Department also reopened Interstate 5 at Chehalis at noon today. Waiting trucks were the first to be allowed through and then general traffic. A spokeswoman, Melanie Coon, says many of the trucks carry perishable goods, including live chickens. The freeway has been closed since Wednesday evening along a 20-mile stretch from Chehalis to south of Olympia. The National Weather Service says the Chehalis River crested Thursday night at Chehalis, 7 feet above flood stage. It should fall below flood stage early Saturday morning. The Transportation Department says I-5 through Chehalis is used by about 10,000 trucks a day and closing the freeway costs shippers about $4 million a day.