A Juneau evacuation route is restricted as the valley floods

North Riverside Drive near Pinedale Street is restricted to local traffic only, with through traffic barred, as Juneau rides out flooding from the annual Suicide Basin outburst. The restriction, in effect since Wednesday night, isn't a full closure, and no end time has been set.

The road is more than a neighborhood street — the City and Borough of Juneau has designated Riverside Drive part of the main evacuation routing for the Mendenhall Valley flood zone. The city is asking people to avoid the area and not drive on flooded roads.

The flooding stems from Suicide Basin, the ice-dammed lake above the Mendenhall Glacier, which releases each year into Mendenhall Lake and the Mendenhall River. Water began flowing over the ice dam Aug. 11, and the National Weather Service is forecasting a river crest of 16.1 to 16.6 feet Thursday morning. Its flood warning for Juneau runs through early Friday.

Ahead of the crest, the Unified Command asked residents of about 2,000 Mendenhall Valley homes — an estimated 5,000 people — to finish evacuating by Wednesday afternoon. The city has opened an emergency shelter at the Floyd Dryden gymnasium and is asking residents to stay out of the mapped evacuation area until officials give an all-clear.