WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – WSDOT has announced a potential reopening date for the North Cascades Highway as emergency repairs begin on a second stretch of the road.

The agency said crews are now repairing a 6-mile stretch of SR 20 between Canyon Creek Trailhead and Granite Creek, which was damaged by washouts in December.

Those repairs are happening at the same time as work that began earlier this month to clear a rockslide farther west along the highway near Diablo Lake.

WSDOT said it’s aiming to finish the repairs and fully reopen the highway by the 4th of July. This will be the latest fully reopening date for SR 20 since WSDOT started tracking seasonal closure dates in 1972. The second latest date is June 14 in 1974.

Until then, the highway remains closed between Colonial Creek Campground and Porcupine Creek. That closure begins before the highway’s seasonal closure and extends midway through it, while the east side of the highway has reopened in Chelan County.

Crews are working around the clock until the repairs are finished.