Road damage from WA flooding to cost at least $40M
A damaged section of State Route 542 between mileposts 43 and 45 east of Glacier after flooding caused by an atmospheric river in December 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation)
Heavy flooding last month caused between $40 million and $50 million in damage to Washington state’s highways, state transportation officials estimated to lawmakers Monday.
The state Department of Transportation responded to dozens of locations due to flooding, officials told lawmakers. The state signed 16 emergency repair contracts. A few more are still to come.
The cost figures provided by the agency are preliminary.
“We’re still compiling the costs, so it’s a range at this point,” Steve Roark, the agency’s Olympic region administrator, told the House Transportation Committee.
It is unclear how much federal funding will be available to cover these costs. Gov. Bob Ferguson will ask President Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration to open up funding.
The most notable example of infrastructure damage from December’s storms is U.S. Highway 2.
The highway, a major east-west passage in Washington state over the Cascades, was closed for more than two weeks along a nearly 50-mile stretch between Skykomish and Leavenworth. Parts of the roadway have completely collapsed.
But the state has since reopened the highway both sides of Stevens Pass for limited travel with temporary fixes. Permanent repairs will take months.
Specifically, work on the section of Highway 2, from milepost 58 to milepost 70 on the eastern slopes of the pass, will likely not be completed until July.
The still-closed segment of Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth could reopen by March. This work includes the reconstruction of the road embankment. Further work will then be necessary during the summer, when the weather will be warmer. Transportation Secretary Julie Meredith said there were more than 16 destroyed or damaged areas in Tumwater Canyon.
There is currently a detour around this area using the Chumstick Highway, but officials caution that this is a rural county road and is not a recommended route for travel across the state.
A map showing the detour route on Chumstick Highway to avoid a closure due to storm damage on U.S. Highway 2. (Map provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation)
At the west end of Highway 2 near Skykomish, the state is developing plans to replace a culvert and make other permanent repairs.
Repairs on other highways will also take some time.
On U.S. 12 near Naches, “the road was gone,” Roark said. He hopes the highway will be repaired by the end of the month.
Repairs on US 101 south of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula are planned for summer, at the earliest. It is an area prone to landslides. About 20 years ago, the state built a retaining wall to support the highway embankment.
“And we’re going to be able to do it again,” Roark said, noting that a “large section of road goes toward the Bogachiel River.”
US 101 is open to alternating one-way traffic.
Similarly, on State Route 542, also known as Mount Baker Highway, one-way traffic takes drivers to the ski area.
“There’s quite a bit of work to be done here to restore the drainage and repair the road,” Roark said. “We plan to start this contract soon. I don’t have an estimated date to give you for the roadway repair, but the work will start fairly soon.”
