St. Paul Still Cleaning Up Following Wabasha Street Rock Slide

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- St. Paul officials have more information on a rock slide that caused slabs of limestone to crash onto Wabasha Street, closing a roadway for weeks.

It all happened back in April, when an unexpected slope failure scattered large pieces from the rock formation above Wabasha Street, prompting the city to shut down the street from Plato Boulevard to Cesar Chavez Street.

WEB EXTRA: Wabasha Street Rock Slide Assessment

On Friday, St. Paul Public Works officials said many similar rockslides happen when the ground is thawing after the winter, but they don't have a specific answer as to why this one happened when it did.

City leaders also don't have an exact timeline as to when Wabasha Street could re-open, but said it could happen as early as late June. Cleaning up the hundreds of thousands of pounds of rock from the street will be the first priority.

Fortunately, no injuries or damage to personal property were reported in that initial rock slide.

Looking ahead, the city of St. Paul hasn't released a final plan on what they are going to do with the bluff to secure it in the future.

Whatever they decide on will need to get approval from the mayor's Office.