It will likely be a few more weeks before Robert Service Way is open to traffic again, says Mayor Laura Cabott.

The mayor and senior city officials hosted a media briefing Thursday afternoon at Fifth Avenue and Rogers Street.

The team of city and consulting engineers is saying there is still significant movement going on along the escarpment, said the mayor.

Tension cracks on the face of the escarpment are growing, she added.

Cabott said the safety of personnel is the highest priority, and the city won’t send in crews to clear the roadway until it knows it’s safe to do so.

Ongoing monitoring of the Apr. 30 mudslide has measured movement of 60 and 135 millimetres of movement, which is significant, she said.

New tension cracks are being found where the mudslide came down.

Because of the uncertainty around the stability of the escarpment, the city has closed the area at the bottom of the clay cliffs between Taylor and Hanson streets.

Fencing has been put up all along the closed area with signs indicating the area is dangerous, and for people to stay out.

Next to the area where the press conference was held, for instance, is a wet mudflow and water coming off the escarpment.

Cabott said the fencing has been placed far enough away from the bottom of the escarpment that if there is another mudslide, it wouldn’t reach the fenced area.

The Black Street stairs remain open but the trail to the left of the stairs going up has been fenced off, she said.

Three parks are included in the fenced off area.

The experts, she said, say movement on the escarpment is expected to continue.

The mayor said it’s likely the movement will continue well into June, until the spring melt is over and conditions start to dry out.

The airport trail running along the top of the escarpment has also been closed from Black Street south until further notice.

The city had already budgeted money to do an assessment this year of the entire escarpment prior to the mudslide.

When the slide came down, it took out trees, the guard rail and a light standard before burying the Millennium Trail and flowing onto the Yukon River ice.

There were no injuries, although one eyewitness said it just missed two people who were walking on the trail.

Tracy Allen, the city’s director of operations, said crews expect to be in clearing the road next Wednesday or Thursday.

The cleanup probably won’t take much more than a day, and the dirt will be hauled to the landfill, she explained.

Allen said it will take another seven to 10 days after the road is cleared to install corrugated steel sheeting as a barrier at the bottom of the slide.

When it’s safe to allow traffic again on Robert Service Way, there’s a possibility it will be only open to single-lane traffic guided by pilot vehicles, she said.

The structural integrity of the roadbed covered by the mudslide appears to be fine.

The city, Allen said, will be working closely with the Yukon government to ensure all the information gathered is shared and updated.

The newest closures at the base of the escarpment were announced at noon Wednesday.

“Along with the new tension cracks, surveying of the escarpment has continued to show signs of significant movement, including ground water flowing down the face of the escarpment, and mud flows occurring in the afternoons,” the city said in a brief statement.

“These signs indicate a potential for additional slides to occur.”

Residences are not at risk, the city indicated.

“The city is actively monitoring the entire escarpment, and the public is instructed to continue avoiding the area,” the statement said.

“We thank the public for their patience and co-operation during this time.”

Whitehorse Transit has begun offering free bus service until Canada Day in an attempt to reduce rush hour traffic congestion.

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