Little Cottonwood Canyon reopened after debris slides shut down road

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SALT LAKE CITY — Little Cottonwood Canyon reopened at noon on Saturday following debris slides which have kept roads closed since Thursday night's thunderstorm.

The unearthed debris covered a 100-yard area of the road and ranged from 2 to 15 feet deep, with “mud, trees, rocks and car-sized boulders,” according to Utah Department of Transportation.

35 cars were trapped between mudslides on Thursday night. However, UDOT roadway operations manager Jake Brown elaborated in a Friday interview with KSL that no injuries were reported or cars damaged.

The dozens of individuals were evacuated to Snowbird and Alta, where they spent the night on Thursday. Jill Caree, one of the affected travelers, stated that rooms quickly filled up and some people had slept in the lobby as hotel employees worked to accommodate them as best they could.

The Utah Department of Transportation continued to work through the night on Friday, and Snowbird closed its summer activities on Friday to account for the continued closure.

UDOT spokesman John Gleason also clarified in a Friday tweet that flooding had exposed a gas line in the canyon.

The canyon has been briefly opened twice to allow for traffic before crews continued to work on clearing the expansive debris.

Flash flooding caused widespread damage and closed roads in several Wasatch canyons Thursday evening. U.S. Highway 6 was closed Thursday night between the junction with U.S. Highway 89 near Thistle and Helper due to debris slides. Officials reopened the road about 6:15 p.m. Friday evening. The Nebo Loop Road in Payson Canyon was also temporarily shut down on Thursday night and later reopened on Friday afternoon. Kaitlyn Workman is a University of Utah political science and mass communications major. Contact her at kworkman@deseretdigital.com