Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons to close for avalanche control work

SALT LAKE CITY — UDOT will be closing down both Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, with Little Cottonwood Canyon shutting down overnight Wednesday into Thursday for avalanche control work.

John Gleason, public relations director for UDOT, explained Wednesday evening that they’re taking extra precautions ahead of this weekend’s incoming storm.

While Little Cottonwood Canyon closures have become the norm this winter, it’s not as often UDOT decides to shut down Big Cottonwood.

Gleason explained that BCC doesn’t have as many slide paths as LCC, but because they’re approaching record snowfall in the canyons, they’re concerned about one specific section that could slide and potentially send snow across the road.

🚧 #RoadClosureAlert 🚧 #SR190 will be locally closed at 8:00AM tomorrow (3/9) for @UDOTavy avalanche mitigation. Both lanes of travel will be closed from Torpedo Hill (MP 4.1) to the Cut (MP 4.8).

ETO is 8:30AM, dependent on results, we will update if delay exceeds 15 min. pic.twitter.com/6zFCGI8Gbu

— UDOT Cottonwood Canyons (@UDOTcottonwoods) March 8, 2023

That area, Gleason said, is called the Stairs Gulch area and is in the lower third portion of BCC. Thursday morning, UDOT will shut down SR 190, send up a helicopter, and the avalanche mitigation team will drop explosives from the sky.

“This is an area that doesn’t see slides very often that would hit the road, but we want to use extra caution,” he said. “And it’s more of a measuring stick of the snowpack, before the big storm comes in this weekend.”

Gleason explained that up Little Cottonwood, their team will use the howitzer and explosives as they have all winter for avalanche mitigation.