Methownet BB

Incorrect info from Washington State Dept of Transportation (WSDOT) about Hwy 20 near Rainy Pass really messed up our travel yesterday (Monday).

The WSDOT phone app and online website said it was open with delays and a pilot car. When we got to Burlington at around 2 pm going east, there was a flashing notice to check AM 1500. The continuing radio broadcast said hwy 20 was closed due to fire activity and to take alternate routes. From Friday and still now, the app and website have continued to say Hwy 20 is open. I know of no way to find out if this is true or false right now.

We lost a couple of hours by having to detour from Burlington to Everett outside of rush hour. It could have been a lot worse during rush hour. I wonder how many hundreds or even thousands of travelers were screwed up by DOT giving out bad info for days.

I wrote to DOT yesterday to point out the error. No reply so far.

Well, I just got a reply and apology from WSDOT. They say that Hwy 20 was actually open over the weekend. They just didn't get around to changing the Highway Advisory Radio (HAR), AM 1500 until after they received my email yesterday. Here's what they said:

"The message has since been cleared and we reviewed the pass reopening checklist with the staff responsible for HAR updates."

It sure would have been a lot nicer and easier for us if we had known we could take Hwy 20.