A large mudslide just east of Sheep Mountain closed the north Alaska Highway at around 1 p.m. Monday.

Crews were able to get the highway open to one lane by about 1 a.m. today.

Traffic was still down to one lane this morning as crews were continuing to clear the slide.

There was no word available early this afternoon from the Department of Highways and Public Works regarding when it expected the highway to return to two lanes.

Communications analyst Brittany Cross said they expect the cleanup will take a couple of days.

There are two loaders, an excavator and several dump trucks on the job, she said.

Cross said it’s believed the slide was caused by a large amount of rainfall in the area. There was another slide west of Sheep Mountain, but it did not affect traffic, she said.

There have been flaggers controlling traffic, and a pilot car was taking vehicles through the slide area today.

The slide occurred approximately three kilometres east of Sheep Mountain.

Crews are expecting to work around the clock until the highway is fully open.

Travellers can expect delays of up to 20 minutes.