WSDOT hires contractors to work on road to Mount St. Helens, but public access is a ways off
Emergency contract work on State Route 504 at Mount St. Helens National Monument will begin Monday, following a May 14 landslide that covered the Spirit Lake Outlet Bridge in rock, mud, ice and water.
However, the road will not reopen this summer, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Contractors working for WSDOT will begin slope stabilization work, critical site cleanup, and connectivity restoration between SR 504 and the Johnston Ridge Observatory.
Access to the observatory will not be restored to the public this summer, said Devin Reck, WSDOT’s assistant regional administrator for development and delivery.
“Recovery work to clear debris and rebuild the bridge at this location will take some time, but we are looking forward to these first few steps,” he said in a new release. “We plan on making the most of the fair weather to gather necessary information and begin work to design a permanent solution.”
The contract will create temporary administrative access to the observatory, and is expected to be completed in early August.
The road is currently closed to public vehicle traffic at mile 45.2, the winter gate. WSDOT closes the upper portion of the SR 504 each fall because of complications the area’s elevation and geography cause in roadway clearing.
