US 89 to Page is closed....

[outdoor_lover]

http://bit.ly/12Nl2oJ

Hikebot adds http://adotblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/ne ... tails.html

[SuperstitionGuy]

The road opened today! I'm heading to Page on Saturday to buy another kayak.

The water leak in your house has got that bad?

[Jim]

I did a search for 89T opening and got to an AZfamily.com webpage with images of the road at times during construction. Looks like the asphalt is a little thicker than 2 inches. More like 4 or 6, but I can't tell. Also, it appears as the road was done decently enough that in 10 years, it might be in good shape.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Temporary- ... =5&c=y&c=y

[chumley]

I have friends who work for Aztec, the engineering company that worked with ADOT on the project. They work with ADOT on road construction all the time. 89T was built up to the standards of any other state highway. (Meaning it will be just as bumpy and undulating after a few years of floods and frost as the rest of US-89 between Flag and Page. :roll: )

[azbackpackr]

Glad to hear that the "2 inch base" thing was just a rumor. It takes a lot of truck traffic, and has a very harsh climate combined with difficult types of geology.

[Jim]

I used to drive an Isuzu flat nose truck to Page from Flag, just about every week back in 2007 and into 2008. I always found 89 to be in good shape, except for the section across the Little Colorado River Valley. Hopefully the road is fine in 10 years and makes for a nice alternative to 89. Scenic as it is, week after week is tiring.

[outdoor_lover]

Won't be long now...Apparently, once they reopen this, 89T will go back to the Navajo Nation, but will still be available for Travel by the Public...

http://www.arizonahighways.com/?q=blog% ... completion

[chumley]

ADOT released an interesting time-lapse of the repairs to US 89 (which opened about a month ago).

It's impressive to see how much earth they moved and the buttress they built below the roadway.

https://youtu.be/vKA0wT9lqoE

[azbackpackr]

Hmmm. I couldn't finish watching it. It goes too fast for my eyes to figure out what they're doing. I'll probably be up that way this summer, anyway, so I can see the repaired road then.

[hikeaz]

Again...…
Storm damage from Tropical Depression Rosa has closed a highway in north-central Arizona early Thursday and forced drivers to use a 190-mile alternate route, the roads department said.
The state Department of Transportation said heavy rains caused part of U.S. 89 to collapse halfway between Flagstaff and Page around midnight.
"Northbound lanes were closed at Cameron near milepost 467 and southbound lanes were closed at U.S. 160 near milepost 481 because of buckling that stretched about 15 feet across the road.
" (Above is the verbatim, but I would tend to believe that the road is closed in both directions between the N and S detour points.)
Alternative routes are Interstate 40, State route 87, State Route 264 and U.S. 160.

[chumley]

@hikeaz
Hopefully they repave that entire section of wavy highway. There’s a lot of alternating between getting airborne and bottoming out when you go through there at 80+!

[azbackpackr]

@chumley
In order to achieve longevity for a rebuilt highway through the Chinle Formation they will have to excavate it deep, like they did in Cameron, and fill it in under the roadbed with a non-clay material. The so-called "Navajo Rapids" will otherwise occur all over again. Those bumps have returned soon after all previous rebuilding. I hope they do rebuild it well. The section through Cameron may seem overbuilt for the area, but it's also an example of top-notch quality road building.

[big_load]

In order to achieve longevity for a rebuilt highway through the Chinle Formation they will have to excavate it deep, like they did in Cameron, and fill it in under the roadbed with a non-clay material. The so-called "Navajo Rapids" will otherwise occur all over again.

Yeah, the geology there is not conducive to high-speed roads unless it never rains.

[joebartels]

the geology there is not conducive to high-speed roads

Must change quick. Seldom Seen Kokopelli cruised a brisk clip nearby offroad over to Salt Canyon preparing me for future hang on for dear life rides with thetacokid.

[azbackpackr]

@joebartels
Going up toward LCR I assume you'd get into the Kaibab Limestone.

[DixieFlyer]

so what route would one take to drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon?

[joebartels]

@DixieFlyer
8h 28m from Downtown Phx
Go roll the dice in Vegas
-----------------------------------
7h 9m from Downtown Phx
Flagstaff > Winona > Leupp > Kykotsmovi Village > Tuba City > Etc
-----------------------------------
Fly ?
-----------------------------------
Hike
[ South Kaibab Trail ]
[ North Kaibab Trail ]
-----------------------------------
other ?

[Sredfield]

I flew into Page once years ago. It wasn't in a Cessna but not much bigger.

[chumley]

so what route would one take to drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon?

According to ADOT in the post above:

Alternative routes are Interstate 40, State route 87, State Route 264 and U.S. 160.

Looking at a map, this makes sense. The evil Google machine confirms it. It's about 80 miles longer and takes an hour and a half more than the regular route (when traveling from the valley)

[DixieFlyer]

I called the Trans Canyon Shuttle and they said that the South Rim 2 North Rim Shuttle now takes about 8 hours. In looking at google maps, the trek from one rim to the other is now 385 miles.

I was planning on taking the shuttle to the north rim, and then hiking back to the south rim; however, I may reconsider doing that.

[Al_HikesAZ]

Here is an update from AZRepublic this morning. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/lo ... 519544002/

For motorists traveling south on U.S. 89, the closure does not affect access to Grand Canyon National Park’s east entrance via SR 64.

The department plans to do short-term repairs to allow the roadway to reopen quickly and will send work to make permanent repairs later, ADOT said.

ADOT sent personnel and equipment to the sinkhole site Thursday and requested special funding through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program for emergency repairs, officials said.

It looks to me like emergency repairs will have the northbound US89 reopened within a few days but permanent repairs will take longer. Traffic might be snarled for a while but will still probably be better than the detour.