Bainbridge drivers slid on snow Wednesday and got stuck in the mud Thursday.

Following the Wednesday storm that left several inches of wet snow, a mudslide early Thursday closed Highway 305 and the Agate Pass Bridge, snarling rush hour traffic from about 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

“It was peak rush hour when the slide came down,” Washington State trooper Glen Tyrrell, the officer on the scene, said, “so while it was inconvenient, it was also fortunate that no one was hurt.”

The slide occurred when a steep slope near Reitan Road, weakened by November rains that dumped nine inches — nearly twice the month’s average — gave way.

Although the slide, which swept away a 25 foot-wide section of the slope, was characterized by Bainbridge public works officials as “small,” traffic was halted in both directions for several hours, with south-bound cars backed up into Poulsbo and Suquamish, and northbound cars halted south of Day Road.

Seven road crews were dispatched by the Department of Transportation, according to DOT superintendent Joyce Komac.

Stalled drivers craned necks to catch a glimpse of the clean-up efforts, while others used cell phones to call work.

“I own a business in Silverdale,” islander Kathryn Chester said, leaning against her open car door. “Two people are already out sick today, so I called ahead to let them know I’m stranded.”

Chester and other motorists watched as a Bainbridge public works front-end loader coordinated with State Department of Transportation backhoes to clear mud from the road.

Bainbridge assistant public works director for operations and maintenance Lance Newkirk checked to make sure houses close to the slide were not affected. Newkirk, with public works director Randy Witt, also ascertained that excavation by the road crew would not further destabilize the slope.

One lane of the highway was opened to traffic at 7:55 a.m., according to Tyrrell. The second lane opened temporarily at 10 a.m. to relieve the crunch.

The highway was fully reopened around 11 a.m., after the road crew moved stumps and debris and re-established the roadside drainage ditch.

Tyrrell praised what he called a “cooperative effort” between the state department of transportation and Bainbridge public works.

“We were requested by the state to provide some support,” Newkirk said. “The 305 corridor is the responsibility of the state department of transportation — but we who live here on the island do have an interest in keeping the highway clear.”

The slope that collapsed Thursday has given way before.

The most recent slide occurred there in January of 1997 — the same month another mud slide swept away a house on Rolling Bay Walk, smothering the Herren family.

Newkirk says that he and other public works personnel keep an eye on Rolling Bay and other vulnerable sites.

Slide-prone slopes Newkirk and his crew regularly monitor include those near Rolling Bay, Sunrise Drive, Rockaway Beach, Toe Jam Hill, and Logg Road.

“A lot of the maintenance guys look for indicators,” Newkirk said. “When they see downed trees which might indicate that a hill is becoming unstable, or they see earth movment, they alert us and we call in our geo-technical team to assess.

“Then, if it goes beyond our comfort zone, we bring in outside geo-tech people.”

Besides keeping track of the known risk areas, Newkirk says, he can be called – along with engineers and building department personnel – to check out problems reported by individual homeowners that range from eroding slopes to cracked foundations.

Newkirk and crew also regularly survey island storm drains to make sure they are clear.

When the drains become blocked, Newkirk says, the increasing hydraulic pressure from the trapped water may find another avenue of release and cause mud slides or washed-out roads.

According to Newkirk, rains plus Bainbridge will always equal some slide activity.

“We inherit the geological conditions we inherit,” Newkirk said.

“There are certain slopes around the island that are just prone to slide, under the right conditions.”