SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. — The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) says I-90 has been closed at Snoqualmie Pass for 47 hours since early November, citing speeding and a failure to chain up as two of the driving factors behind collisions and closures.
WSDOT and Washington State Patrol are both asking drivers to take regulations more seriously, keeping in mind the impacts failure to follow those rules can have.
The closures have disrupted traffic on busy weekdays, impacting commuters significantly. That includes families like that of 3-year-old Hudson Smith, as they travel from Spokane to Seattle for follow-up appointments as he continues his journey after two years of battling infant medulloblastoma. While much of his care is in Spokane, some appointments, including with their neurologist, happen in Seattle. They could not make it to one of their recent sessions due to a closure.
"For us, it makes a huge difference," mom Christina Warrington said. "It means we are not getting the care or treatment we need for our child, it means we're going without scans or being able to track if treatment is working or if he's having any other neurological issues due to treatment."
Warrington, along with officials, is asking drivers to take the gravity of safe driving seriously.
"I would like them to slow down, I would like them- even if the speed limit is posted at 60 or especially for truckers, if the conditions don't call for it or it's too crowded, they need to slow down," Warrington said. "They need to check their mirrors and pull over when they need to."
She says she'd like to see more accountability, on behalf of companies employing drivers and authorities, ensuring that people follow the rules of the road.
WSP says failing to chain up falls under RCW 47.36.250 and could result in a traffic infraction and $500 fine, while speed during inclement weather can fall under RCW 46.61.400, specifically to the portion that requires drivers to travel at a speed that is “reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing.”
WSP says in 2021, it made 294 contacts for failure to chain. It's still too early to compare data for 2022, the department said. The agency says it has already seen 230 collisions on I-90 between milepost 46 and milepost 55, the two chain-up areas before and after Snoqualmie Pass.
Warrington says due to the nature of Hudson's treatments, he has multiple shunts in his head and his neurologist is located in Seattle, they will continue to travel the I-90 corridor, and they hope people will take safety more seriously.
You can learn more about Hudson's journey here.
"He's tired, he sleeps a lot during the day- but he's just, he's happy to be home," Warrington said. "He's been doing treatment for two years because he had a relapse and then failed relapse therapy where he had tumors, and he's just happy to be home and be able to be a little boy and enjoy Christmas."