Date:  Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Contact: Abbi Russell, WSDOT Communications, 360-905-2058 (Vancouver)

WSDOT expects to reopen highway early next week

STELLA – Work will begin Thursday to reopen a stretch of State Route 4 near Stella closed by a landslide that covered the highway Tuesday, April 5. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) hired Scarsella Brothers Inc. of Seattle under an emergency contract to complete the work.

Crews will work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week to clear the landslide and remove up to 50 dump-truck loads of unstable material from a slope high above SR 4. WSDOT expects to reopen the highway early next week.

The $350,000 project is funded by emergency dollars.

While SR 4 is closed, WSDOT will pay fares for drivers to use the Ferry Wahkiakum between Puget Island and Westport, Ore. The ferry is running 24 hours a day. Drivers can expect long wait times due to high demand.

Local transit service Wahkiakum On The Move (pdf 55 kb) is running shuttle buses to and from the ferry terminals in both Washington and Oregon. Since pedestrians take up less room on the ferry than cars, using this service helps reduce wait times and increases the ferry’s capacity.

Drivers can stay up to date by visiting WSDOT’s Travel Alerts Web page and by calling 5-1-1 or 800-695-ROAD.

Find pictures of the slide on WSDOT’s Flickr page.

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WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.

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