Of all the state roads damaged in the Feb. 28 earthquake, our section of State Route 202 here in the Snoqualmie Valley suffered the worst. In fact, it is the worst road damage from the earthquake in the state. The estimated price tag to repair it, which includes the alternative to cut a new roadbed on the backside of the hill above the river, is $40 million. That’s 20 times as much as it will cost to fix Seattle’s First Avenue South bridge, which ranked second on the state’s earthquake road repair list.

The current situation is this: The highway has a 900-foot crack running down the center line. The roadway shoulder on the river side has fallen away about 6 inches along that same distance. Then there is what the Department of Transportation refers to as the “ongoing landslide slowly encroaching on the roadway,” and the “increasingly unstable hillside” upon which the current roadbed is carved. The 1999 landslide on SR 202, which threatened the Tokul Creek Hatchery, was caused by this deterioration of the hillside. The earthquake impact has now made that much worse. While we have had a dry winter, which helped slow the collapse of the hillside, a normal rainy season would continue to add to the deterioration of the slope.

DOT engineers are currently conducting soils tests to accurately determine the future stability of the hillside slope under the roadbed. This takes time to complete. The results of these tests will help determine the best alternatives to reopening the road. Initial results indicated that if shoulder and pavement repairs are made, it might be possible for DOT to open the highway to two-way traffic with a 16-ton weight restriction. These soil tests will tell us whether that is a feasible, and more importantly, whether it is a safe plan.

This week and last, DOT engineers have been evaluating alternatives in conjunction with the Department of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife and King County. All these government entities will be involved in, particularly with permitting, the final solution to our problem. DOT has committed to have its recommendations ready and available by Friday of this week.

Our tentative options are twofold: 1) Patch the existing roadbed and attempt to stabilize the deteriorating hillside slope, or 2) Cut a new roadbed from the base of the hill up across the top of the hill and then back over to just below the Salish Lodge. Patching the existing roadbed would not offer any guarantees that we wouldn’t find ourselves in this position again in 10 to 15 years due to the worsening integrity of the hillside. Cutting a new roadbed on the backside of the hill would be a major construction project and expensive, but would solve the problem once and for all.

The cost of the project, while significant at $40 million, will not be the real issue. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expected to pick up between 75 to 100 percent of the cost of permanent repairs to earthquake damage such as SR 202. Our challenge is to have a DOT work plan (with permits) ready to go and submitted to FEMA before the end of April and a Snoqualmie Valley community commitment to that plan so we can begin construction on repairs this summer. If not, we’ll have to wait a whole year and suffer the continuing disruption impacting our business community, families, schools and public safety services. SR 202 is the main arterial backbone of the upper and lower Snoqualmie Valley. It is estimated that this stretch of road handles 8,000 vehicles per day.

I’d like to express my thanks to King County Councilman David Irons Jr., Snoqualmie Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher and North Bend Mayor Joan Simpson, who have been working hard as well to address this situation. Their commitment to the welfare of the citizens of Snoqualmie Valley in this difficult situation is exemplary.

Phil Fordyce, DOT’s East King Area administrator, told me his agency anticipates making “swift progress” on fixing our highway. I assured him that the thousands of families and business owners affected by the SR 202 road closure are counting on DOT, DOE, DFW and King County to do just that. It is in just such emergency situations as this that the true measure of government’s ability to solve problems for the people must be taken. DOT plans to hold a public hearing in our community later in April to assure that all comments and concerns are taken into consideration.

It’s been a month since the road closed, and it will be months before things return to normal. However, I’m confident that this project will proceed down the proper and most efficient path now that all the stakeholders are represented at the table.

I’ll continue to be there as your state representative, watching out for you. And in the meantime, we all will have to be patient a little longer.

Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, of the 5th Legislative District is serving his first term. He is a member of the House Transportation Committee.