Road Closure due to Inclement Weather

Started by jlam, December 27, 2021, 12:19:54 PM

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jlam

Over the past few days, I got stranded in Laramie, WY, as all roads out of town were closed. The roads were iced over, with 40 mph gusts. While I was waiting for roads to open, I went skiing at Snowy Range. Once US 287 opened south of Laramie (around 9:00 PM yesterday), I immediately headed home.

As far as I know, Wyoming often closes major roads when the winds get extremely gusty. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon closing when it snows a few inches there. Are there any other major roads that are commonly closed like this?


hotdogPi

Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

Max Rockatansky

I-80 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is having a hell of a closure right now.

gonealookin

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 27, 2021, 12:29:22 PM
I-80 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is having a hell of a closure right now.

I think all trans-Sierra roads are closed, most having been closed since late Saturday or early Sunday.

In addition to the difficulty of getting the enormous volume of snow off the pavement, other issues even after the snow stops falling are avalanche danger and whiteout conditions caused by gusty winds.  CA 89 north of Tahoe City, a relatively low-altitude road which is usually open 24/7/365, is closed because an avalanche came down onto the road this morning.

My guess is that if Caltrans can get any of these roads opened by later today, they will post the rare R3 (chains required, all vehicles, no exceptions) and run pilot cars at low speed to keep traffic moving.  What happens fairly regularly particularly on I-80:  Caltrans opens the road with R2, some drivers get going too fast or just can't handle the conditions, and the road has to be closed again in order to allow the army of tow trucks to head up there and clean up the mess.

Rick Powell

#4
Quote from: jlam on December 27, 2021, 12:19:54 PM
As far as I know, Wyoming often closes major roads when the winds get extremely gusty. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon closing when it snows a few inches there. Are there any other major roads that are commonly closed like this?
My wife and I have been through more than a few road closures in WY and near-closures where they let us escape through the only open route with a warning that if we didn't leave now, we'd be stuck for an indeterminate period of time. Sometimes we were able to travel on a parallel road or go out of our way 100 miles or more, and rejoin our route. We once got on an exit where WB I-80 had apparently been closed behind us, and were able to travel 60-70 miles as the only car on the road, and luckily didn't hit a drift that stuck us.

It takes an extraordinary act of nature to close a road in IL. I can think of maybe 4-5 times in the last 20 years in IL that I-80 was closed near me. A few really bad wrecks where they flagged everyone over to US 6, a snowstorm that closed much of it in early 2011 for a few days, and a flash flood where the culverts got clogged with corn stalks after the harvest and a bad downpour and the road had a few feet of water on it.

froggie

I feel like we've had another thread like this in the past year or two.

There are a number of states across the central and northern Plains and Upper Midwest that have gates on freeways, freeway ramps, and even at-grade highways, to use to close the highway/freeway in the case of inclement weather.  In these regions, usually due to blowing and drifting snow.

SectorZ

I'm curious what roads, if any, get closed due to bad weather in the Northeast US. Outside of roads closed all winter of course. Any closures I've ever seen regarding weather have been due to an accident, not in an effort to avert one.

7/8

This might not count as a "major" road, but Grey/Simcoe CR 124 (former Highway 24) north of Shelburne, ON often has whiteouts in the winter, and therefore has this sign for road closures (street view link).

kurumi

Current conditions for I-80 in the Sierras (California, to NV state line):
Quote
[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA & SIERRA NEVADA]
IS CLOSED FROM APPLEGATE RD (PLACER CO) TO THE NEVADA STATE LINE - DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Alternate route, hmmm...
70? no
49 and 20? no
50? no
88? no
4? no
108? no
120? no
178? ... yes!
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

froggie

Quote from: SectorZ on December 27, 2021, 06:34:50 PM
I'm curious what roads, if any, get closed due to bad weather in the Northeast US. Outside of roads closed all winter of course. Any closures I've ever seen regarding weather have been due to an accident, not in an effort to avert one.

Just this Christmas morning, VTrans shut down 40 miles of I-91 south of WRJ due to icing.  I also know of cases where the hill climb on NB I-89 past the Bethel exit (Exit 3) was also closed due to snow.

Bruce

A lot of mountain passes.

Snoqualmie (I-90) and Stevens (US 2) do get occasional closures if the conditions are bad enough that motorists could risk getting seriously stranded.

Molandfreak

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 05, 2023, 08:24:57 PM
AASHTO attributes 28.5% of highway inventory shrink to bad road fan social media posts.

bulldog1979

M-28 between Harvey and Munising, Michigan, will be closed in the winter when there's too much blowing snow coming off Lake Superior. There are VMSs at the US 41 and M-94 intersections just to inform motorists when there is a closure.

Once in a while, US 41/M-28 near the Marquette Branch Prison will be closed as well due to the proximity to Lake Superior and blowing snow.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: jlam on December 27, 2021, 12:19:54 PM
Over the past few days, I got stranded in Laramie, WY, as all roads out of town were closed. The roads were iced over, with 40 mph gusts. While I was waiting for roads to open, I went skiing at Snowy Range. Once US 287 opened south of Laramie (around 9:00 PM yesterday), I immediately headed home.

As far as I know, Wyoming often closes major roads when the winds get extremely gusty. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon closing when it snows a few inches there. Are there any other major roads that are commonly closed like this?

Any road in Indiana is subject to closure for icing every now and then, but the US 20/31 bypass around South Bend seems particularly prone to icing over, especially between IN 23 and IN 331.

The lake effect snow belt in northern Porter and LaPorte counties can get some pretty heavy snow that severely drifts in high winds, but INDOT generally does a really good job at keeping the highways passable in all but the very, very worst conditions.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

TheHighwayMan3561

#14
Quote from: bulldog1979 on December 27, 2021, 10:42:37 PM
M-28 between Harvey and Munising, Michigan, will be closed in the winter when there's too much blowing snow coming off Lake Superior. There are VMSs at the US 41 and M-94 intersections just to inform motorists when there is a closure.

Once in a while, US 41/M-28 near the Marquette Branch Prison will be closed as well due to the proximity to Lake Superior and blowing snow.

The Mackinac Bridge will shut down occasionally due to high winds or ice accumulating on the towers that poses a falling danger.

Quote from: froggie on December 27, 2021, 06:19:30 PM
There are a number of states across the central and northern Plains and Upper Midwest that have gates on freeways, freeway ramps, and even at-grade highways, to use to close the highway/freeway in the case of inclement weather.  In these regions, usually due to blowing and drifting snow.

Sometimes they put gates in bizarre places, located after the most convenient turnaround/exit and sometimes not next to any kind of crossover at all. What the heck do you do then?
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

1995hoo

#15
Woodburn Road in Annandale, Virginia, closes almost every time we get heavy rain because Accotink Creek floods the road bigtime. Been a problem going back at least as far as the 1970s when the old one-lane bridge was there, but the local news still acts like it's unusual that it happens. What would be more newsworthy is if it didn't flood.

Edited to add a tweet I found showing what that road typically looks like after a flood. When I attended kindergarten through third grade, the bus went over the old one-lane bridge that used to be there, but if it rained, the bus driver took a different route.

https://twitter.com/barnardfox5dc/status/1021760529872945152
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

HighwayStar

I think states have gotten more closure happy over the years with traversable roads being closed out of an abundance of caution, or perhaps fear of armies of ambulance chasing lawyers.
There are those who travel, and those who travel well

skluth

The desert is a bit different in this regard. We have roads washed out from rain and roads closed due to blowing sand. Blowing sand will drift onto roads and the highway departments will push it off the road like snow. The worst in Palm Springs was Valentine's Day 2018 when an atmospheric river dumped over 3.5" of rain and washed out CA 111, Indian Canyon Road, Gene Autry Trail, and Vista Chino - the four roads to I-10 plus the road to the tram up Mount San Jacinto. Palm Springs was almost an island with just three streets connected to Cathedral City(Ramon, Dinah Shore, East Palm Canyon) the only way out.

rickmastfan67

Quote from: SectorZ on December 27, 2021, 06:34:50 PM
I'm curious what roads, if any, get closed due to bad weather in the Northeast US. Outside of roads closed all winter of course. Any closures I've ever seen regarding weather have been due to an accident, not in an effort to avert one.

10th Street Bypass in Pittsburgh can be closed after major rain/snow storms when the Allegheny River floods.  Happens a few times a year.

What's even more crazy is when the 'bathtub' segment of I-376 floods from the Monongahela River.  That's always fun.  PennDOT even has some signage ready to go 24/7 whenever it happens: https://goo.gl/maps/RkUgP2NqVKBXjvKm9 However, the older signage was a little better looking, IMO, because all the panels on it could flip when they closed the road @ Exit 71A. https://goo.gl/maps/B6ihQwgzNVxufKuAA

Bruce

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 28, 2021, 07:38:54 AM
Woodburn Road in Annandale, Virginia, closes almost every time we get heavy rain because Accotink Creek floods the road bigtime. Been a problem going back at least as far as the 1970s when the old one-lane bridge was there, but the local news still acts like it's unusual that it happens. What would be more newsworthy is if it didn't flood.


Reminds me a bit of the Skokomish River, which is famous for flooding and forcing salmon to cross it:

https://twitter.com/kenradio/status/1135566227684954112

SEWIGuy

Quote from: HighwayStar on December 29, 2021, 07:14:15 PM
I think states have gotten more closure happy over the years with traversable roads being closed out of an abundance of caution, or perhaps fear of armies of ambulance chasing lawyers.

I don't think it has anything to do with lawyers, but Wisconsin installed gates on all of their interstates after this incident.

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2008/02/08/87162.htm

I saw them deployed a couple days ago on I-94 when an accident backed up traffic for miles.  As I exited on WI-26 heading eastbound, the gates for the entrance ramp were down preventing others from entering the highway.

doorknob60

I-84 between Pendleton, OR and La Grande, OR usually shuts down for a handful of days each winter. Sometimes they extend the closure east all the way to Ontario (usually due to running out of truck parking in La Grande and Baker City, not sure if they let local traffic through during that). Closures don't usually last more than like 12 hours, but they're not uncommon. It was closed this morning/overnight I'm pretty sure. And in the past week it's been closed at least a couple other times. It's open right now, though looks like pretty slow going.

I no longer plan road trips to Oregon/Washington in the winter, the roads/passes are too much of a wild card. The last time I did that was Christmas 2017 and while I didn't run into any closures, it was a little hairy in both directions. Though in that case it was ice in the Columbia Gorge, not over the Blue Mountain Passes. Now if I travel to Oregon in the winter I fly (though I've only been there once in winter since then). Though looking at the crazy weather related issues in SeaTac the past week (with a side of Covid issues), flying isn't foolproof either.

kkt

Quote from: kurumi on December 27, 2021, 08:14:45 PM
Current conditions for I-80 in the Sierras (California, to NV state line):
Quote
[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA & SIERRA NEVADA]
IS CLOSED FROM APPLEGATE RD (PLACER CO) TO THE NEVADA STATE LINE - DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Alternate route, hmmm...
70? no
49 and 20? no
50? no
88? no
4? no
108? no
120? no
178? ... yes!

I-40 is almost always open...

Quote from: Bruce on December 27, 2021, 10:40:39 PM
A lot of mountain passes.

Snoqualmie (I-90) and Stevens (US 2) do get occasional closures if the conditions are bad enough that motorists could risk getting seriously stranded.

It's also fairly common for them to close for a few hours for avalanche control.

epzik8

In Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Susquehanna bridges (Hatem and Tydings) are subject to high wind closures.
From the land of red, white, yellow and black.
____________________________

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SkyPesos

I-95 in Virginia somewhere between Richmond and DC was closed last night due to snow.



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