COUGAR — The stretch of State Route 503 near Yale Lake that was washed out by a storm earlier this month has fully reopened to traffic.
One side of the state road, also known as Lewis River Road, south of Cougar collapsed in a landslide during the Dec. 5 rain storms. The road reopened to a single lane of traffic until the emergency contractor hired by the Washington State Department of Transportation began its emergency repairs.
According to WSDOT the repair crews installed a new 48-inch culvert below the roadway to replace the culvert that failed during the storm, filled and stabilized the surrounding area, and rebuilt the road with gravel. The road fully reopened Saturday.
The emergency crews will continue working to pave the road and repaint the stripes in January.
The full repair project is estimated to cost $1 million.