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Road remains closed as DOT monitors rockslide site

Published 10:30 pm Monday, April 11, 2022

By Michael S. Lockett

A pair of rockslide on Douglas Highway cut traffic while Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel cleared debris. DOT&PF geologists are still monitoring the site. (Courtesy photo / DOT&PF)
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A pair of rockslide on Douglas Highway cut traffic while Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel cleared debris. DOT&PF geologists are still monitoring the site. (Courtesy photo / DOT&PF)

A pair of rockslide on Douglas Highway cut traffic while Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel cleared debris. DOT&PF geologists are still monitoring the site. (Courtesy photo / DOT&PF)
A pair of rockslide on Douglas Highway cut traffic while Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel cleared debris. DOT&PF geologists are still monitoring the site. (Courtesy photo / DOT&PF)
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel clear rockslide debris from Douglas Highway on April 6, 2022. (Courtesy photo / Alana Davis)
Car-sized rocks were among the debris from an April 10 slide that cut the Douglas Highway off. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities geologists are still monitoring the site. (Courtesy photo / DOT&PF)

Both lanes are cleared as of Tuesday afternoon, but Douglas Highway will remain closed at the North Douglas site of a pair of rockslides while Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel monitor the hillside.

Emergency and local traffic may use the road as needed, said DOTPF spokesperson Sam Dapcevich in an email.

“Our team has been making observations with a drone as weather conditions allow, and are looking closely at the area where the rockfall originated, which is approximately 500’ up the hillside,” Dapcevich said.

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There were two slides, the first occurring on April 6, Dapcevich said.

“The evening of April 6, approximately 500 cubic yards of material fell to the road from a cliff about 500’ up the hillside. DOT&PF cleaned up the slide and reopened the highway,” Dapcevich said. “The afternoon of April 10, a second slide took place with approximately double the quantity of material reaching the road with some boulders bouncing over the guardrail and landing on the beach or in the water. Some of the boulders were car sized.”

The slides may have been triggered by high winds, Dapcevich said. The road will reopen fully when the department has a better feel for the risk of further landslides, Dapcevich said.

“I believe it was very windy during both slide events, and there are many tree roots exposed that appear to have grown into rock crevices,” Dapcevich said. “Both lanes have been cleared, but the road remains closed until our geologists can better assess the risk.”

• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.

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