UPDATE: US 6 now open with temporary gravel road for Labor Day traffic, UDOT says

UPDATE: The temporary road is now open, though the drop in speed limit to cross the new road will still cause expected delays.

US-6 between Helper and Soldier Summit is now open. Big thanks to our crews for making this happen. pic.twitter.com/2fNf183pyz

— Utah DOT (@UtahDOT) September 4, 2023

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CARBON COUNTY, Utah — As Labor Day weekend comes to an end, the Utah Department of Transportation is working to reopen U.S. Highway 6 following a major mudslide.

The slide forced crews to close U.S. 6 on the Utah County side at the U.S. 89 junction near Thistle in Spanish Fork Canyon and on the Carbon County side at milepost 230, just north of Helper at the U.S. 191 junction.

U.S. 191 was closed Sunday night due to additional mudslides, but it reopened before 11 p.m. Eastbound U.S. 6 drivers were being detoured to U.S. 89 while westbound drivers were being sent into Duchesne County via U.S. 191. Drivers can also use Interstate 15 to I-70 as an alternate route.

Once U.S. 6 reopens with the temporary gravel patch, drivers will be limited to 25 mph in the area. Crews hope to have U.S. 6 open by Monday afternoon — faster than initially anticipated.

Our crews have been busy working to get US-6 open again. We are on track to open early this afternoon with a gravel road. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph for the next several days. pic.twitter.com/fnrORRDNUd

— Utah DOT (@UtahDOT) September 4, 2023

Mudslide closes US 6

A major mudslide completely washed out U.S. 6 at milepost 228 Sunday afternoon.

“I could hear big huge rocks tumbling in the bottom of the flowing water, it sounded like thunder but from the ground,” said driver Nathan Strain, who got caught in the backup caused by the flooding. “It was tons of water flowing over that road. “By the time I got there, it had gauged out the road pretty deep, so it was flowing kind of at road level.

Crews are continuing work to repair the road and finish construction on a culvert that was being built to help avoid future slides. The area has dealt with flash flooding following the 2021 Bear Fire, which burned over 5,000 acres in the area.

“Over the last few weeks and months, they’ve been installing a big culvert into the road, and they’ve been shifting lanes and moving stuff and digging,” Strain said. “They were doing work to prevent this sort of thing in the future — kind of an irony there.”