A problem spot on Blue Slough Road that has been subject to frequent slides and road slippage has split wide open as a result of recent rains and the road will remain closed indefinitely, according to county officials.

“We have had an ongoing issue at this location,” said Rob Wilson, county engineer. “This time it started Nov. 18 when we had enough settlement to warrant closing the road.”

A road crew was able to patch the road and it reopened to traffic Monday, Nov. 20.

“They needed to patch the road again (last) Tuesday in order to keep it open,” said Wilson. “Overnight we saw an increase in movement and decided to close it again Wednesday and have kept it closed since.”

A geotechnical engineer will survey the site this week. “We’ll evaluate our options after that,” said Wilson. “In the past we have seen a little movement here or there but over the last week and a half there has been an increase in the rate of movement. We want to make sure the road is safe for the public before we reopen it.”

Blue Slough Road runs about five miles between State Route 107 and Highway 101 and is used as an alternate route for those traveling between Montesano and Cosmopolis. The site of the problem is about three miles east of Cosmopolis, where the road has been split south to north all the way across. The roadway on the east side of the crack in the road now sits about a foot or more above the roadway to the west and more cracks are forming a few yards away.

Jim Celich, a road supervisor with Grays Harbor County, said the road itself is “slipping” due to the effect of heavy rainfall on the underlying soil. Celich said the road has had a tendency toward such movement problems every winter but has been repaired in the past with hot mixed asphalt.

“At this time there is no date that it will be opened,” Celich said.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD A massive crack caused by heavy rains has closed Blue Slough Road indefinitely.