North Cascades Highway cleared

The North Cascades Highway reopened Monday afternoon after being closed for the winter.

The Washington State Department of Transportation closes the route every year because of heavy snow and extreme avalanche danger.

It has been closed since Nov. 7.

That was a little earlier than usual, said Transportation Department spokesman Jeff Adamson.

Typically the highway doesn’t close until late November.

And though a late April or early May reopening isn’t unusual, it’s quite a bit later than last year’s March 10 reopening – the earliest in the highway’s history. (There was one winter – 1976-77– when the highway didn’t close at all.)

Adamson said he received quite a few complaints about this year’s late reopening.

Drivers and businesses along the highway “got squeezed a bit on both ends this year,” said Adamson.

“But our No. 1 priority is safety.”