Flooding in Western ME and eastern NH

[marty]

Guess there has been a lot of rain in the Western Maine and Eastern NH mountains lately. Some roads are closed, including stretches of Route 2 (Bethel area), Route 26 and Route 113. I'm sure the trails are an adventure, especially those with stream crossings. Here is a link with a summary:

Flooding

Regards,
Marty

 

[MichaelJ]

The Wild River must have been something to see, jumping from 3' to 11' deep and spiking up over 10,000cfs.

 

[chomp]

A 40 foot bridge was washed out on 113, so it may be closed for a while:

http://www.theunionleader.com/artic...rticleId=2d264ab1-f53e-45c2-96ce-cbe9904c0692

 

[Breeze]

Route 2 re-opened to traffic@ noon today.


Breeze

 

[psmart]

Extended video news here:

http://www.wgme.com/News/flash/newsF.shtml

(The story will probably have been moved off this page by tomorrow.)

 

[sardog1]

Latest update from Maine DOT:

News Release for Immediate Release (4:55PM 7/12/07)
Contact: Mike Burns, 624 - 3600

ROUTE 26 IN WESTERN MAINE REOPENS TO TRAFFIC

The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) reopened Route 26 in Newry to traffic late this afternoon. It had been one of three highways between Maine and New Hampshire closed last night and part of today due to severe weather.

U.S. Route 2 in Gilead, Route 26 in Grafton Notch in Newry and Route 113 in Evans Notch all sustained major damage and were closed to traffic.

U.S. Route 2 between Bethel, ME and Gorham, NH was reopened to traffic at mid-day Thursday after crews replaced a washed out drainage pipe beneath the highway and replaced the washed out roadway and pavement.

Route 26 north of Route 2 in Newry was closed after heavy rain runoff washed out the approaches to the bridge over Great Brook in Grafton Notch. MaineDOT crews worked on that area throughout the day and reopened it to traffic late this afternoon.

Route 113 from Gilead through Evans Notch to the New Hampshire border was the most severely damaged of the three, with bridge damage and multiple landslides. MaineDOT says it will remain closed indefinitely while the Department does a further assessment of bridge and roadway damage and develop plans for repairing it.

Anyone with plans to go to Wild River (or anywhere else along 113) for the next several weeks (or months?) should figure on doing it from the south. I'm guessing there might be folks stuck at Wild River right now???

EDIT: USFS White Mountain NF road status page shows Wild River Road closed for washout.

 

[Waumbek]

Wild River Campground closed

EDIT: USFS White Mountain NF road status page shows Wild River Road closed for washout.

Further cdx report from WMNF. Updates will contine to be posted at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/


Hiker / Visitor Alerts and Current Conditions
Warning: Road washouts. 12 July -- Update. As a result of last night's heavy rains --
Route 2 is now open to public traffic.
Wild River Road is closed due to washout.
Little Lary Road is closed due to washout.
Wild River Campground is closed until the access road can be repaired.
Hastings Campground is open, but must be accessed via Route 113 coming from the south.
Route 113 is closed due to washout and is unlikely to be opened for several days.
We will continue to update this site as more information is obtained. Posted 2:30 PM.

 

[Motabobo]

Does that mean I'll still be able to access the Baldfaces parking lot from the south ?!

 

[psmart]

Does that mean I'll still be able to access the Baldfaces parking lot from the south ?!

It sounds like Route 113 from the south is open through the notch to Hastings, and closed shortly beyond that point. From NH DOT:

Maine 113: from after State Route 113B to before US Route 2
bridge closed due to storm damage
Comment: Batchelders Grant. Bridge closed on route 113 aproximately 2 miles in from Route 2 in Gilead.

 

[Breeze]

I don't envy SR and their challenges this weekend. They got hit hard and fast, they never knew what they were up against until it was full bore on top of them. A micro-burst?

I live about 3 miles from Gilead Village and I slept thru Wednesday night like a baby.

Apparently, the 113 bridge washout is the first bridge one comes to from the north, just after the sharp turn. 113 is closed at the first gate from the north entrance from route 2, still moving dirt there from landslides.

Breeze

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Duffy and I did the Baldface loop today. There is no problem getting to the trailhead from the south. After the hike we drove up 113 all the way to the Hastings campground. All of the trailheads can be reached by coming in from the south.

 

[arghman]

113 bridge reopened

This is probably old news to some of you, but Rt 113 is open again (I think it was sometime in August). There is a temporary wooden 1-lane bridge where the washout occurred. Not sure when the "real" bridge will be replaced.

Wild River road is also open but the FS page says use caution. I have not traveled this myself so can't comment what that means.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/recreation/roads_status.php

 

[blacknblue]

113 is a-okay. There is a narrow bridge that I suppose is a temporary replacement (?), but it wasn't a problem to drive. Strangely enough, it was dumping rain when I drove it this weekend and was hydroplaning, but at least all the bridges were intact!