A rockslide closed the Seward Highway in both directions for about two hours Thursday morning.
The slide pushed debris and at least one huge boulder onto the highway just before seven o’clock this morning.
State Department of Transportation spokesperson Shannon McCarthy says an SUV hit the boulder, which alerted officials to the incident. McCarthy says local weather conditions could have triggered the slide.
“Anything that causes a freeze – thaw cycle can loosen material,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy says slides are not unusual in the area, just south of Anchorage.
“This area, from Potter weigh station down to Indian, we do monitor throughout the year, but particularly in springtime, and other times, such as like after a seismic event or after high winds, for any material that may have become loose and may have fallen on to the roadway,” McCarthy said.
Highway crews cleared the rocks away, and the highway opened up by nine a.m. According to Anchorage Police Department there were no injuries reported in the incident.
Lori Townsend is the news director and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
