WSDOT crews continue to stabilize northbound I-5 slope at site of landslide
Washington State Department of Transportation crews continue to clear debris and stabilize a cliff along northbound Interstate 5 south of Bellingham following a March 19 landslide that sent an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 cubic yards (about 5,000 to 6,000 tons) of debris down 60 to 80 feet onto the freeway.
As of Monday, April 6, WSDOT still had not announced a target date for reopening I-5. Drilling on the top band of the slope is completed, and crews are anchoring steel dowels to stabilize the side of the slope near the slide, according to WSDOT.
Crews are working seven days a week to reopen the road, but travelers should still expect delays in the area and consider alternate routes.
Northbound I-5 traffic is being diverted to Samish Way at exit 246. Drivers can rejoin the interstate at the Samish Way on-ramp at exit 252.
Freight traffic, such as semi-trucks, must instead follow the detour east on the North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) before heading north on State Route 9 in Sedro-Woolley. Freight traffic can take the Mount Baker Highway (State Route 542) east to rejoin I-5, according to the April 1 news release from WSDOT.
The area is known for slides. The site is considered an active slide zone, and WSDOT is advising people not to attempt to fly drones over the area.
“We have an unstable slope that we need to stabilize, and the way we do that takes a lot of time, and we start from the top and work our way down, removing unstable rock formations as well as trees and debris,” WSDOT Assistant Regional Administrator Melissa Ambler explained during a March 25 media briefing. “That way when we get to the bottom we don’t have that risk of rocks or debris falling on our crew. That is one of the reasons we cannot open even one lane of (northbound) I-5, because the rocks and debris can easily fall down the slope and come onto either lane of traffic.”
Burlington-based Interwest Construction Inc. began clearing trees and debris Sunday, March 22. Interwest is the same company that cleared the Chuckanut Drive landslide of April 2025. Brad Wyman with Interwest Construction said the I-5 landslide may be the largest landslide his company has been contracted to clear — possibly second only to last year’s Chuckanut Drive slide, which took nearly two months to clear.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 11:43 AM with the headline "WSDOT crews continue to stabilize northbound I-5 slope at site of landslide."
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