Teton Pass road collapses

[berkshireskier]

I don't know how many people saw this news story but a section of Teton Pass between Jackson Hole and Driggs, Idaho catastrophically failed in a major disaster. It's truly frightening when you see the photos of the total collapse of the underlying road structure. Amazing that no one was hurt. The authorities are not sure how long it will take to re-build the road but it looks like a long-term project. The detour adds about 60 miles to the trip. Not good for Grand Targhee, if not repaired by this Winter.

Large chunk of Wyoming's Teton Pass road collapses; unclear how quickly it can be rebuilt

The large chunk of a mountain pass highway serves as a well-traveled commuter link between small towns in eastern Idaho and the tourist destination of Jackson.

apnews.com

 

[EMSC]

catastrophically failed

Nah; that'll buff right out.

Anyone know if it has been extraordinarily dry or wet in Jackson this spring? Either of those conditions are frequently related to such a failure. Minimum multi-month for the detour.

Reminds me, I should see if/when the US50 detour west of Gunnison will be fixed. Hard to replace a whole bridge over a major reservoir though.

 

[ChrisC]

For the last two years, the Pacific Coast Highway has been washed out in the winter. That area is entirely dependent on tourism.

Link

[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]​

1-way controlled traffic from Tuna Canyon Rd to Las Flores Canyon Rd /in Malibu/ (Los Angeles Co) - Due to mudslide​

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[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA]​

Is closed from Limekiln State Park to 14.3 mi south of Big Sur /at Lime Creek/ (Monterey Co) - Due to emergency repairs - Motorists are advised to use an alternate route route​

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1-way controlled traffic 13.1 mi north of Las Cruces /at Jamala Rd/ (Santa Barbara Co) - Due to a washout​

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1-way controlled traffic at various locations from 15.5 mi south of Monterey to 14.2 mi south of Monterey /at Palo Colorado/ (Monterey Co) - Due to emergency road repair​

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1-way controlled traffic at various locations from 5.3 mi north of Jenner /at Meyers Grade Rd/ to 5.8 mi north of Jenner /at Vista Point/ (Sonoma Co) 24 hrs a day 7 days a week thru 2359 hrs on 8/2/24 - Due to construction​

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1-way controlled traffic from 2.6 mi north of Timber Cove /at Ninive Dr/ to 2.7 mi north of Timber Cove /at Ocean Cove/ (Sonoma Co) 24 hrs a day 7 days a week - Due to slide removal​

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1-way controlled traffic 1.7 mi south /at Pinecrest Rd/ to 2.1 mi south of northbound Jct of US 101 /at Loring Ave/ (Marin Co) from 0900 hrs to 1500 hrs on Monday 6/10/24 - Due to maintenace​

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[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]​

1-way controlled traffic at various locations from 2.2 mi south of Westport /at Blues Beach Trailhead/ to 1.5 mi south of Westport (Mendocino Co) 24 hrs a day thru 1800 hrs on 8/27/25 - Due to Emergency Work​

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1-way controlled traffic at various locations from 5.6 mi south Rockport /at Portal Rock Vista Point/ to 4.9 mi south of Rockport /at Devonte Vista Point/ (Mendocino Co) 24 hrs a day 7 days a week thru 1300 hrs on 9/20/24 - Due to construction​

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1-way controlled traffic from 9 mi south /at Little Lake Rd/ to 6.6 mi south of the Jct of SR 20 /at Surfwood Estates Rd/ (Mendocino Co) from 0600 hrs to 1900 hrs Monday thru Friday thru 6/14/24 - Due to construction​

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1-way controlled traffic from 1.7 mi north /at Mill Creek Dr/ to 2.6 mi north of Fort Bragg (Mendocino Co) from 0700 hrs to 1700 hrs Monday thru Friday thru 6/14/24 - Due to construction - Motorists are subject to delays up to 10 minutes​

 

[Sbooker]

This will be interesting for the staff of Jackson businesses and services that live in Victor and Driggs for the cheaper accommodation.

 

[ChrisC]

Anyone know if it has been extraordinarily dry or wet in Jackson this spring? Either of those conditions are frequently related to such a failure. Minimum multi-month for the detour.

That's a major backcountry ski destination. Jackson even ran buses on weekends because there was not enough parking when I visited in January 2020.

That's a lot of workers' home base over in Driggs. It's probably bad news for Grand Targhee, too. And forget getting to Bozeman.

 

[jasoncapecod]

It’s also home to some of the best mtb in the country.
I rented a bike in Wilson at the base of the pass. I feel bad for that shop.

 

[berkshireskier]

I read today that the Wyoming DOT may try to cut a temporary detour through part of the forest that is close to the section of the road that collapsed and they think it may take only weeks to get it open. From the photos I saw, I'm not sure how they will do this but they are under pressure to get that road open again because the only other available bypass is about 60 miles longer.

 

[ChrisC]

Seems like you should be able to put enough fill in the red area to create a temporary bypass before winter.

If we can reopen the Port of Baltimore in 2 months, then US engineering should be able to do this.

 

[snowave]

We (in McCall) had a pretty significant rain (over 1") on top of high elevation snow event just before that happened. There was some minor flooding in our area, but a few of the mountain streams caused some washouts on backcountry roads. Since this is across the state from me, I wasn't paying that close attention to that area. I did live in Teton Valley for a year, and yes... A LOT of people in Victor/Driggs area commute daily to Jackson.

p.s. just saw this photo from a post today from WYDOT. Looks like they are fast tracking it for sure.

 

[spinbackwards]

It brings me no pleasure to say we'll start to see more of this. We see it here already. Glenwood Canyon is teetering on the brink. The last straw were the fires that wiped out the vegetation. Now there's literally nothing to hold the rain. So the problem compounds.

Sooner than we think, a mudslide will take out a section of the upper, westbound deck. That'll cause the lower, eastbound deck havoc if not take it out too. Then all hell breaks loose.