Closure will also affect people traveling to Chinook Pass/Cayuse Pass and the east side of Mount Rainier National Park
ENUMCLAW – People traveling to the mountains in search of brilliant fall colors along State Route 410 will want to take an alternate route the first week of October.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2, through 12 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, both directions of SR 410 will close near Dry Creek and Crystal Mountain Ski Resort at milepost 55 so contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation can install a new, 10-foot corrugated metal pipe culvert.
During the closure, travelers should consider using Interstate 90 or US 12 across the Cascade Mountain Range. The Sunrise area at Mount Rainier National Park will be accessible only from SR 123/Cayuse Pass from the south and westbound SR 410 from the Yakima area.
Travelers will also see weekday alternating one-lane traffic in place on SR 410 near Dry Creek the weeks of Sept. 25-29, and Oct. 9-13.
No weekend work is scheduled.
What is happening
During the Oct. 2-5 closure, crews will excavate nearly 100 feet of SR 410 near Dry Creek’s new location and install the culvert. Once in place, crews will rebuild the roadway and add riverbed material inside the culvert so it replicates a stream bed and helps control the speed of water passing through it.
The project is the final stage to repair the highway between Greenwater and milepost 55 following a debris flow in fall 2022.
Project background
Heavy rains in November 2022 created a debris flow along Dry Creek above SR 410. As the debris flow made its way down the hillside, it blocked a 24-inch culvert under SR 410, which sent water and debris across the highway. The debris flow permanently changed the course of Dry Creek.
Repairs to expand flow capacity under SR 410 were needed to avoid similar or worse damage to the highway in the future. WSDOT divided the emergency repair project into two phases to lessen the effect to businesses, residents and emergency services located above Dry Creek.
The first phase completed in February, when crews added three 24-inch overflow culverts a few feet beneath the roadway to divert Dry Creek’s excess runoff until more permanent repairs could be made this fall.
Road work in Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainer National Park also has a project on the east side of the park that travelers should note. Stevens Canyon Road is closed from 6 a.m. Mondays to 8:30 p.m. Fridays from Stevens Creek to Grove of the Patriarchs for a rehabilitation project.
Visit Mount Rainier National Park website for the latest alerts and conditions before traveling in the park.