Flooding and debris forced an overnight closure of State Route 190 in Big Cottonwood Canyon before crews reopened the road Monday morning, Oct. 12.

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office first restricted uphill traffic around 6:35 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11. Vehicles headed for Solitude and Brighton ski areas were turned around at the canyon mouth, according to a UDOT Cottonwood Canyons alert.

A blocked culvert at Storm Mountain, near milepost 4.25, caused the trouble. UDOT posted on X that a crew was working to clear the culvert of debris, with no estimated time for reopening uphill traffic. The situation worsened overnight.

By midnight Monday, UDOT escalated the restriction to a full road closure in both directions, Gephardt Daily reported. Downhill traffic already in the canyon was rerouted through Guardsman Pass. No reopening time was given.

Crews finished the job by early Monday. UDOT Cottonwood Canyons posted on X at about 7:49 a.m. that SR-190 was open in both directions and that flood control and debris clearing was complete.

The road was shut for roughly seven hours.

The agency cautioned that additional rain is forecast and that weather-related delays remain possible on canyon roads. UDOT did not specify which days carry the highest risk.

The closure came days after a flash flood watch tied to the remnants of Hurricane Rachel was issued for the Cottonwood Heights area, as we reported Oct. 8. Whether the overnight flooding was directly connected to that storm system was not confirmed in any UDOT update.

Residents who use Big Cottonwood Canyon can monitor real-time road conditions through UDOT Cottonwood Canyons on X (@UDOTcottonwoods) or at cottonwoodcanyons.udot.utah.gov.