The Payson Roundup / Rock slide Thursday along Highway 87, concrete barriers installed

Archive for Tuesday, January 13, 2009

January 13, 2009

To the dismay of Arizona Department of Transportation engineers, the hills surrounding Highway 87 seem to be falling down and landing on the roadway.

On Thursday, several large boulders fell onto the roadway 32 miles south of Payson near milepost 218. As a precaution, state highway crews installed several 20-foot-long concrete barriers alongside southbound lanes to keep any more rocks from sliding onto the roadway.

One southbound lane was closed Saturday morning to allow crews to install concrete barriers. All lanes have been reopened.

Bill Williams, a Public Information Officer with ADOT, said rockslides are common alongside Arizona roadways, especially after storms.

As a precaution, ADOT’s geotechnical team is investigating the area to see if any more slides are possible.

In March, a landslide caused nearly 45 feet of the highway’s southbound lanes to buckle and shift. The roadway was closed for a week, and southbound lanes were reopened in late May.

It may cost $18 million to repair and stabilize the hills surrounding the area.