SR-210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon reopens after avalanche caused road closures

ALTA, Utah (ABC4) — An avalanche in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday evening led to hour-long closures of SR-210, and several vehicles were caught in the avalanche.

Later Tuesday night, John Gleason, the public relations director for the Utah Department of Transportation told ABC4.com, said the road was reopened for people and interlodge was lifted at the resorts.

“Our crews are going to be on top of this situation, and making sure that we’re doing everything we can to keep people safe,” Gleason said.

Gleason said Tuesday was “a full day for avalanche crews” in Little Cottonwood Canyon. He said the canyon was closed down earlier in the day for mitigation efforts, and said the results of Tuesday’s avalanche would have been worse if that preparation had not been done.

“Fortunately, no one was injured,” Gleason said. “There were two cars that were partially buried and we reacted right away by shutting down the canyon….”

The vehicles were pulled out and the roads were cleared, and Gleason said avalanche control work continued in the area.

“This area, near the resorts, we’re not able to do any of the control work to try to trigger these slides when people are around there,” Gleason said.

He called SR-210 “the most dangerous road in the world” in terms of avalanche risk and danger.

Earlier in the day, UDOT Cottonwood Canyons said in a social media post that uphill traffic was closed up north, and downhill traffic was advised to return to parking areas.

Detective Bennett with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office told ABC4.com that three vehicles were involved in the avalanche, but there were no injuries reported.

Sorina Trauntvein, Matthew Drachman, and Maclane Westbrook contributed to this report.