Northbound I-5 reopens ahead of schedule near Bellingham

One day ahead of schedule, road workers cleared a massive landslide that blocked Interstate 5 south of Bellingham for a month, reopening both northbound lanes to regular traffic Wednesday.

A 100-foot-tall slope spilled boulders the size of buses and pickups across I-5 around 9:30 p.m. March 19, after heavy rains. The slide blocked freeway traffic for 4 miles, between Bellingham and the north end of Lake Samish.

The state Department of Transportation hired contractors with Interwest Construction of Burlington.

In the nearly four weeks since the slide, specialized crews rappelled down the slope to inspect it and dislodge loose slabs of rock using hand and air-compression tools," according to the state Department of Transportation. "They also drilled 2,065 linear feet of holes into the rock face and anchored 96 steel dowels 15 to 25 feet deep to stabilize the slope."

Crews removed about 7,000 cubic yards of debris, "enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools," according to the transportation department.

Geotechnical engineers analyzed and monitored the slope for potential instability.

Road workers could work only in the daytime for safety reasons, hauling away debris seven days a week to get the road open again. Meanwhile, northbound drivers were detoured to Highway 9, Highway 11 and local roads. Southbound traffic also was slowed at times.

Until last week, there was no clear timeline for reopening. State crews sent out a surprise "FINAL UPDATE" Wednesday afternoon to announce traffic was flowing again.

David Rasbach, a WSDOT spokesperson, said the highway reopened a day early because crews determined it was safe to do so.

"We got the work done," he said.

He said the department doesn't have a final cost estimate for the repairs, but he said it was more than $1 million.

The freeway is the main route between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

"Seeing this reopening ahead of schedule is welcome news for our community after weeks of disruption," said Guy Occhiogrosso, president and CEO of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. "This restores the ease of essential movement of people and goods.

The reopening comes as the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the flower fields, with many of tourists coming from Canada or Whatcom County and passing by the slide scene.

Seattle Times staff reporter Caitlyn Freeman contributed to this story.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM.