Single snowstorm road closure cost put at $28 million
Confirming earlier studies by Global Insight, Inc. and Iowa State University (and, doubtless, many others), the Washington State DOT just released a report on a four-day, winter weather closure of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass last winter with a total economic loss of $28 million.
The study employs new economic impact assessment methods developed by Washington State University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center seeking "a reality-based, comprehensive analysis of the effects … on the state's freight-dependent industries and the economy as a whole." The study included a survey of trucking firms and freight-dependent businesses. The study found the four-day storm cost 170 people their jobs and those still employed were penalized $8.6 million in lost wages. State tax revenues declined $1.42 million through reduced economic activity. That's one short segment of one road for one storm.
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