North Cascades Highway snow removal delayed
OUTDOOR TRAVEL – State transportation workers will get a late start clearing the snow off a 37-mile winter closure zone on State Route 20 in the North Cascades.
The Bellingham Herald reports work is expected to start on SR 20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, on April 10 – about four weeks later than usual.
Weather, snow slides and still-full avalanche chutes make it unsafe to begin any earlier, officials say.
Snow clearing likely will to take longer this year because the snow is up to 40 feet deep on the highway near Liberty Bell Mountain.
The work is expected to take eight weeks, putting a possible opening around mid-June.
The North Cascades Highway has opened only a few years in March, and once as late as June 14.
