Landslide closes Route 40 near Yough Lake
Photo provided by PennDOT
Route 40 is closed near Yough Lake after a rock slide covered the highway Thursday night.
Photo provided by PennDOT
Crews will work through the holiday weekend as they continue to stabilize the hillside that gave out last week, causing a landslide that covered Route 40 near Yough Lake in Henry Clay Township.
MARKLEYSBURG – A landslide on Route 40 near Yough Lake is expected to close a section of the highway through the weekend – and possibly much longer – while crews remove debris and stabilize the hillside.
The slide, which covered both lanes of the road with trees, rocks and dirt in Henry Clay Township just west of the Yough Lake Bridge, was reported shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, state Department of Transportation spokesman Jay Ofsanik said.
Crews began removing the debris Friday, but the work was expected to continue into next week as they will have to also stabilize the hillside to prevent additional ground movement, Ofsanik said.
“It’s going to be a while,” Ofsanik said. “The whole hillside came down and it’s still shifting.”
The Addison Volunteer Fire Department posted a video on its Facebook page late Thursday showing trees and other debris falling down the hill and covering the road. Roadblocks were set up to prevent motorists from getting close to the landslide since the hillside was continuing to shift Friday afternoon.
PennDOT was still working Friday to determine the extent of the slide and the scope of the excavation work that will be needed to stabilize the hillside. Ofsanik said the road would likely be closed into next week, although an official timeline on when Route 40 would be passable again might not be known for several days.
“This is a major slide we’re talking about,” he said.
The slide and lengthy road closure happened just before what was shaping up to be a good weekend for boaters on Yough Lake with sunny skies and warm temperatures anticipated.
Yough Lake Marina, which is located on the Somerset County side of the lake, posted a notice on its Facebook page warning customers of the road closure, but also announced that the boat launches at Somerfield Recreation Area and at the dam a few miles north would remain open this weekend. A person who answered the phone Friday morning said he could not discuss how the situation might impact the marina’s business this weekend.
Douglas Swisher, the resource manager for the Army Corps of Engineer at Youghiogheny River Lake, said Jockey Hollow Boat Ramp, which is on the Fayette County side of the lake just west of the slide, would remain open this weekend, along with other boat launches in the area.
“I don’t think it will be anymore than an inconvenience,” Swisher said. “All the launches will be open, but it may be more difficult accessing them (with the detours).”
While local traffic is still permitted in the area and boaters can still access the launches near the lake, PennDOT is urging motorists traveling through the area to use posted detours onto Route 281 into Confluence and Route 523 back onto Route 40 near Addison.