Northbound I-5 reopens near Bellingham, WA after landslide

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Northbound lanes of I-5 officially reopened near Bellingham on Wednesday after a landslide closed a portion of the freeway for nearly a month.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced that all northbound lanes of I-5 are back open between mileposts 248 and 249, just south of Bellingham city limits.

WSDOT shared video of northbound I-5 reopening near Bellingham (left) after a landslide (right) closed freeway lanes for nearly a month. (WSDOT, Finn Wendt / @cascadiadaily)

Big picture view:

The slide, which occurred on March 19, sent thousands of cubic yards of rock, trees and debris onto the roadway, including massive boulders. Crews immediately started work to clear the debris and stabilize the slope.

About 7,000 cubic yards of debris were removed from the site, enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools. Steel anchors were also installed to secure the hillside and prevent future slides.

A top-down view of the landslide blocking northbound I-5 in Bellingham. (Courtesy: Finn Wendt / @cascadiadaily) (Finn Wendt / @cascadiadaily)

Geotechnical engineers worked alongside WSDOT to identify unstable areas and conducted a final inspection before the northbound I-5 lanes reopened.

The closure disrupted traffic for nearly a month, forcing drivers to use detours and clogging local roads in south Bellingham.

I-5 remains closed after landslide near Bellingham

There's still a lot of work to do to clear the slide on northbound I-5 near Bellingham, taking crews nearly two weeks now to clean up the mess.

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