ENUMCLAW, Wash. — From Oct. 2 to Oct. 5, state Route 410 will close for four days due to construction near the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. The closures will affect people going to the east part of Mount Rainier National Park, as well as Chinook Pass or Cayuse Pass.
The Washington State Department of Transportation recommends drivers use Interstate 90 or US 12 across the Cascade Mountain Range. To access the Sunrise Area at Mount Rainier National Park, travelers can go through SR 123/Cayuse Pass from southbound or westbound SR 410 from Yakima.
Closures will begin at 9 a.m. on Oct. 2 and go through noon on Oct. 5. in both directions of SR 410 at milepost 55.
Crews will be working to excavate 100 feet of the state route to install a culvert, a tube that goes underneath the roadway to get water from one end to the other.
Once the culvert is placed, workers will reconstruct the road and put in riverbed material on the inside of the culvert. This is so that the speed of the water flowing through the culvert will slow down and be more similar to a stream bed.
However, SR 410 will also see road changes outside of this Oct. 2-5 range. There will be alternating one-lane traffic from Sept. 25-29 and Oct. 9-12.
For travel to Mount Rainier, it's also important to keep in mind that Stevens Canyon Road will be closed from 6 a.m. Mondays to 8:30 p.m. Fridays from Stevens Creek to Grove of the Patriarchs. Crews will be working on preparing the damage the road has sustained over the years. So far, no weekend work is being scheduled to impact travel during the busier days of the week.