February 2, 2026

Post-flooding roadwork flows into February

WSDOT photo via Flickr [enlarge]

During this week’s full closure, Granite Construction will repair a roughly 70-foot-long damaged section of Mount Baker Highway east of Glacier.

In the wake of December's catastrophic floods that damaged 34 state-managed transportation routes, crews have been working overtime to put Washington's roadways back together.

Many high-profile projects are already complete. Like portions of state Route 2 between Skykomish and Stevens Pass, rebuilt around the clock by Hurst Construction of East Wenatchee and reopened on Jan. 4, and a one-lane washout on the road to Crystal Mountain, repaired in 37 straight hours by Active Construction of Puyallup and reopened Dec. 23.

State officials are racing to tally the infrastructure damage ahead of Gov. Bob Ferguson's FEMA Public Assistance ask to help cover repairs. That's due to the feds Feb. 18. The governor also plans to put in then for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding to construct protective infrastructure such as flood walls ahead of future storms.

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Crews with Trimaxx Construction wrapped emergency repairs Jan. 20 on SR-530, washed out by the Sauk River.

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IMCO Construction began work Jan. 23 repairing a culvert and rebuilding a roadbed on SR-20 damaged in the flooding.

Map via WSDOT Facebook [enlarge]

SR-2 remains closed through mid-March between Coles Corner and west of Leavenworth as crews with Pipkin Construction repair roadway washouts in Tumwater Canyon.

Meanwhile, crews still have plenty of repair work left to keep them busy.

TUMWATER CANYON

In Chelan County, among post-flooding work still underway is the rebuild of SR-2 between mileposts 90 and 97 by Pipkin Construction of East Wenatchee, after portions of road were washed away by the Wenatchee River at three locations in Tumwater Canyon.

WSDOT is now setting that emergency project's completion for March. Until then, a detour near Lake Wenatchee over county road Chumstick Highway connects SR-2.

MOUNT BAKER HIGHWAY

A full closure of Mount Baker Highway east of Glacier was set to start early today and end on Friday. WSDOT emergency contractor Granite Construction started work Jan. 19 repairing two sections of state Route 542 damaged by December flooding east of Glacier in northeast Whatcom County.

Eastbound and westbound traffic has been alternating through most of the construction, as Granite crews rebuilt an approximately 110-foot-long section of embankment around milepost 41, backfilled the eastbound roadbed with gravel, repaved and restriped it and installed guardrail.

During this week's closure, crews will repair a roughly 70-foot-long damaged section of roadway near O'Keefe Creek at milepost 43. The work is slated to end in early 2026, but some of the work will require dry weather and warmer temps, WSDOT said.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL

IMCO Construction of Ferndale began work last week in Skagit County repairing a section of state Route 20 about 6 miles north of Marblemount. Crews will replace a culvert and rebuild the roadbed around milepost 112, both damaged by the flooding at Bacon Creek.

Crews with Trimaxx Construction wrapped emergency work on state Route 530 on Jan. 20. That work, about 8 miles south of Rockport, repaired portions of the highway washed out by the Sauk River. Crews with Trimaxx rebuilt the embankment, backfilled the roadbed with gravel, and paved and striped and reconstructed guardrail.

A record 34 state-managed transportation routes, including two interstate highways and three U.S. highways, were severely impacted by the flooding.

Which of those projects did we miss? Reach out to Shawna and let her know.