The Washington State Department of Transportation announced Thursday that barring any unforeseen setbacks, the North Cascades Highway will reopen to drivers on May 16.
The highway has been closed between mileposts 134 and 171 – as it normally is – since November as heavy snow usually makes it impossible to get through. This year though, because of snowfall extending into March and even parts of April, the clearing of the snow delayed the reopening of the highway.
Officials initially hoped to have it open by Memorial Day.
The highway is open to bicyclists completely as of Thursday, officials with WSDOT tweeted.
Jeff Adamson is the North Central Region Communications Manager for WSDOT. He told KREM 2 that the delay was primarily because winter just would not stop. He said normally the highway is open by May 1 or earlier.
The highway is scheduled to open at 11:00 a.m. officials tweeted.
#SR20NCH WSDOT crews plan to reopen the North Cascades Highway at 11 a.m. Tues. May 16, barring unforseen events. Bicyclists-it's all yours
— WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) May 12, 2017
