Portions of the Mount Washington Auto Road that were washed out earlier this month due to runoff from heavy rain and melting snow have been filled in, just in time for opening day on Saturday, according to a spokeswoman.
The road will open for its 162nd season as originally scheduled on May 13, said spokesperson Meghan Moody Schwartz in a statement. It will be open on weekends for “drive yourself” operations only until May 27, when daily operations begin for the summer season.
Crews filled in the washed out areas with sand, stone and gravel, and the road is now passable, Schwartz said in an e-mail.
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In the coming weeks, the road will be repaved, she said.
Since May 1, the summit of Mount Washington has received around 20 inches of snow, which was cleared from the road with help from staff of Mount Washington State Park, the statement said, the Mount Washington Observatory said in an e-mail.
“We experienced some of the worst damage to the Auto Road that we have seen in recent memory,” Schwartz said in the statement. “It is only because of our dedicated Road Crew and supportive mountain partners ... that we are proudly able to open today as scheduled to passenger vehicles and motorcycles.”
Additional road status updates can be found on the Mount Washington Auto Road website.
Claire Law can be reached at claire.law@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @claire_law_.