US 89 near Page suffers massive road collapse!

[Sonic99]

Early this morning, a portion of US 89 just south of Page collapsed due to a "geological event" (rumors are either earthquake in the area or landslide). I just drove this road last week to go pick up a car, and this road seemed just fine! Wow! How long is something like this going to take to fix? We aren't too far out from Spring Break, not sure how many boaters go to Lake Powell for that, but it would definitely impact travel!

Pictures courtesy of "FlagScanner" on Facebook via ADOT

[NE2]

Good thing they kept the old road around.

[Rover_0]

Good thing they kept the old road around.

You mean US-89A?

Anyways, I wonder what the timescale will be to repair this. Something similar to the UT-14 landslide? I wonder if they'll have "Detour US-89" signs up US-160 and AZ-98 until this is fixed.

I don't see any major realignments coming from this once all is said and done--what about anyone else?

[kphoger]

Well, I wouldn't want to do it with a boat trailer or a Miata, but....  Shoot! just keep the road open!

[Brandon]

It looks like the soil under the road slumped.  That's going to take a while to rebuild from soil stabilization upward.

[Kniwt]

1m45s AZDOT video from the scene here:
http://youtu.be/lo7GHtpP5g4

[djsinco]

I saw something similar, but on a smaller scale, near Nara Visa, New Mexico, in the mid 1990's.

NMDOT ever so helpfully erected a sign (just before the "Road Closed" sign,) telling drivers to "Seek Alt Route." WOW!

[Sonic99]

Just read a local article criticizing ADOT for not putting up any signs letting drivers know that US 89A to Lee's Ferry, Fredonia, and Kanab is still open. Apparently the signs only say "Road Closed 45 Miles Ahead" at the turnoff for US 160 to Tuba City, and is apparently giving the impression that the 160/AZ98 detour is the only one. Given that the highway is most likely going to be closed for months at a minimum, businesses affected are understandably upset.

[swbrotha100]

ADOT now has a link specifically related to the US 89 closure:

http://www.azdot.gov/us89/

[Rover_0]

Arizona governer Jan Brewer is declaring a state of emergency, primarily for federal funding to fix the US-89 landslide.

[Rover_0]

And now, AzDOT has received $2M in federal funding to assess the damage.

I've been thinking, but I wonder if it might be more cost-effective in the long term if AzDOT were to pave all of N-20 (from The Gap to Page) and reroute US-89 up that road. US-89A then gets extended south to The Gap, and old US-89 from Page to Antelope Pass either becomes a State Route spur or BIA route.

Of course, I say this being not really sure how road transfers between AzDOT and BIA works. From what I can tell, however, N-20 appears to have much less change in terrain and geological activity along its route than does US-89.

[Rover_0]

As of March 5, the estimated cost to fix US-89 is estimated to be around $35M.

I'm home for the week in Kanab, and after a conversation with a gas station clerk, it appears that the road has slipped about another 30 feet. Also, they said that AzDOT is considering paving N-20 the whole way from The Gap to Page and possibly rerouting US-89 up that way. They weren't sold on the idea, as N-20 is quite sandy in spots, but there are sandy areas north of Kanab on US-89 that haven't had any issues as far as I can remember.

Yes, I know gas station employees aren't the most reliable sources, but they are often a gauge of local talk.

[Sonic99]

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/p-m-update-highway-repair-timetable-in-dispute/article_bf0c9054-8c34-11e2-89d9-0019bb2963f4.html

Highlights:

• Timetable could possibly be up to two years to repair US89, which agrees with what Rover_0 said about the road continuing to shift and being far from a stable situation
• With the timetable growing more each day, ADOT is really starting to come on board with the idea of paving N-20 as an alternate

But the Arizona Department of Transportation calls the timetable premature, saying no official estimate of the repair schedule is possible until tests have confirmed the extent of the landslide and the stability of the slope, which would then lead to a repair plan.

Translated to: We have no clue what the hell is happening and how to stop the mountain from sliding away, and have no idea if we can even fix this.

It's really a shame, because I drove this road less than a week before the collapse, and told my friends that were with me that we needed to come back to that road because the views were absolutely breathtaking. If the road is indeed continuing to slide down the hill, this route may not ever reopen and may have to be realigned, and I will never get the chance to go back for those photos. 

[Rover_0]

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/p-m-update-highway-repair-timetable-in-dispute/article_bf0c9054-8c34-11e2-89d9-0019bb2963f4.html

Highlights:

• Timetable could possibly be up to two years to repair US89, which agrees with what Rover_0 said about the road continuing to shift and being far from a stable situation
• With the timetable growing more each day, ADOT is really starting to come on board with the idea of paving N-20 as an alternate

But the Arizona Department of Transportation calls the timetable premature, saying no official estimate of the repair schedule is possible until tests have confirmed the extent of the landslide and the stability of the slope, which would then lead to a repair plan.

Translated to: We have no clue what the hell is happening and how to stop the mountain from sliding away, and have no idea if we can even fix this.

It's really a shame, because I drove this road less than a week before the collapse, and told my friends that were with me that we needed to come back to that road because the views were absolutely breathtaking. If the road is indeed continuing to slide down the hill, this route may not ever reopen and may have to be realigned, and I will never get the chance to go back for those photos. 

Well, there's hope that if N-20 is paved and becomes a US-89 realignment, then old US-89 becomes either an SR or N spur to the cut area. SR-89S, anyone?

[NE2]

It may be worth contrasting this with the US 87 closure at Massacre Hill, Wyoming (which has I-90 to carry through traffic). It's been closed since 1998 by a landslide.
https://www.aaroads.com/west/us-087_wy.html

[Billy F 1988]

Wow. That's gotta suck for some businesses utilizing the chunk of US 89 that collapsed. ADOT may as well re-route that part of US 89 between Bitter Springs and Page. I bet a lot of residents and business owners count on that area of roadway to get to where they need to be. Now they're pissed because more tax money is coming out of their pockets to pay ADOT for the re-routing of US 89 away from the collapse corridor.

[Rover_0]

Well, why I think it might be better to permanently re-route US-89 along N-20...the Antelope Cut is a geologically active area, while the worst terrain problem N-20 has is that it's a sandy area. Another landslide will happen at The Cut--it's a matter of when--but the odds of a devastating landslide like this are much smaller along N-20.

Why put so much time into paving a temporary detour, fixing the section of road, only for it to possibly fail again?

As for the sand--as one from nearby Kanab, I can tell you that it didn't stop UDOT* from getting US-89 over the sandy area north of town near the Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP back in the 1940s or 1950s (if not earlier). If the Arizona and Navajo DOTs can work out a transfer to get N-20 permanently under AzDOT jurisdiction, then I think that they'd save a lot more time and money in the long run. US-89 between Page and Antelope Pass becomes a SR or BIA spur.

While I'm at it, if I-17 were ever to be built up to Page (or beyond), I wouldn't be surprised if it more closely followed N-20 than US-89 for the reasons I've stated before.

*Or its equivalent at the time.

[vdeane]

Does US 89 need to go to Page?  US 89A could probably take US 89 with N-20 being paved N-20.

[corco]

I mean, yeah. The thing is that Page is already ridiculously isolated from the rest of Arizona, so it should probably have a numbered, state highway connection to the rest of the state besides 98. Flagstaff is the county seat, so there should be a direct, state or US numbered connection from Page to Flagstaff lest Page becomes even more isolated.

Lake Powell is also a fairly significant tourist destination, so a numbered route there is probably a good thing.

[J N Winkler]

It looks to me like the present US 89 is a relocation, since it is built to relatively modern standards.  A superficial inspection of Google Maps suggests that N-20 is a more direct route from US 89 to Page, but there is no StreetView imagery for N-20.  I guess my question is this:  presumably the N-20 corridor existed when options for relocating US 89 were under consideration.  So why, then, was N-20 not chosen for the new US 89?  Might those reasons still apply today?  (I don't buy sand as a rationale because that particular problem was defeated in the mid-1930's when the old US 80 plank road in Imperial County was relocated onto a permanent, all-weather alignment.)

My guess--and at this point it is just a guess--is that ADOT will bite the bullet and spend what it takes to rebuild US 89 through the slide area.

[NE2]

It looks to me like the present US 89 is a relocation, since it is built to relatively modern standards.

US 89A is the old road.

[Rover_0]

A couple of updates:

AzDOT is more seriously considering N-20 as at least a temporary detour to US-89. According to the Kanab-based Southern Utah News, AzDOT representatives considered that if US-89 is deemed irreparable, then N-20 could become the new US-89. There are also some alternative plans.

The Arizona Daily Sun says that if US-89 could be repaired, then N-20 could then become US-89T ("Temporary," I assume) while the mainline is being fixed. If Page once had AZ-89L, then they can have US-(or AZ-)89T!

[agentsteel53]

Does US 89 need to go to Page?  US 89A could probably take US 89 with N-20 being paved N-20.

yes.  when Page was built in 1957 as a company town for the Glen Canyon Dam project, Arizona and Utah decided that it should be served by a US route, and 89 was realigned. 

so all US-89 rerouting plans will likely involve it continuing to serve Page.

[Sonic99]

Saw an article that ADOT is considering designating N-20 as "US-89T" for "Temporary" to allow ADOT funds to pave and maintain the roadway. Honestly, from everything I have heard from ADOT, I wouldn't be surprised if the current US-89 is NEVER repaired and is removed, and the N-20 route becomes permanent. There is still uncertainty about what caused it to fail in the first place, and I believe I heard that it is still shifting and sliding and is far from stable.

[J N Winkler]

The co-designation of N-20 as US 89T has now gone through.  It is to be paved to accommodate truck traffic (at present only 13 miles are paved, the remaining 31 being unpaved), and the work is to take four months.  If and when repairs to the collapsed section of US 89 are finished, the newly paved N-20 will be relinquished to the Navajo Nation.

I continue to think it is improbable that ADOT will give up on the current US 89 alignment and shift the designation to N-20 permanently.  The Native American tribes are far less willing to grant permanent easements for state highways traversing their reservations than they were in the past.  There is apparently already a precedent of a 75-year easement being granted in relation to a BIA road, as well as talk of easements as short-lived as 25 years being offered for proposed new roads.  The general rule of thumb (which may or may not apply in this case) is that inability to obtain a perpetual easement across Native American lands is a poison pill for state DOTs.

Moving on to a discussion of the slide itself:

Google StreetView image centered at slide location (looking south along US 89)

In the slide zone, there are two prominent horns of rock along US 89 along the east side which are readily visible in satellite imagery.  The center of the slide is almost exactly due west of the northern of the two horns.  The general lie of the land is sloping downward from east to west, with US 89 occupying a sidelong alignment and on a fairly steep upward grade in the northbound direction.  The top of the slide is just under the US 89 pavement.

One approach that could be tried--and this is far easier to see using Google Earth (which has adequate point elevation data to make a fly-through of this area useful) rather than Google Maps--is to relocate US 89 to the east of its existing alignment through the slide area, on a new line running behind the ridgeline that rises just to the east of US 89.  The rock through this area might be more solid, but one problem (aside from the considerable expense of rock removal) is that there is an even higher ridge to the east, with its own debris slopes that might later give rise to rockfall problems on a relocated US 89.  Meanwhile, the sidehill viaduct ADOT is also considering through the slide area might wind up isolated from the rest of US 89 by further slides, since it seems US 89 in this area is basically on a series of talus slopes.  I think it will take ADOT some time and a considerable amount of geotechnical investigation to find a foolproof solution.