New Landslide On Chief Joseph Highway

Parts of the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway slid downhill Wednesday night.

While the highway remains open at this time, Wyoming Department of Transportation officials say that motorists are asked to watch for oncoming traffic prior to driving through the damaged area, which is located about 20 miles west of the highway’s intersection with Wyoming Highway 120.
Thursday’s slide area is in the same area where parts of the highway slid downhill last year, and WYDOT personnel were on site early Thursday, assessing the situation. Cody Beers with WYDOT says that one-way traffic is in place, but the plan is to keep the road open.

Beers says that WYDOT engineers are still working on a permanent fix for last year’s slide, which occurred in the same general area. He says that while the department was able to add a second lane of traffic on the uphill side of last year’s slide, they will have to invest extra time and effort into repairing this new event.
A 10-foot width and 48,000-pound restriction is in place for Wyoming 296 until further notice.