Nearly a month after initial rockslide near Riggins, temporary U.S. 95 route will open
The Idaho Transportation Department said it will reopen a temporary route on U.S. 95 Monday after using drills and explosives last week to break up the largest boulders blocking the route.
Part of the highway has been blocked just south of Riggins for nearly a month due to rockslides in the area. After the initial July 3 slide, ITD crews cleared a temporary gravel road at the base of the slide. Additional rockslides prompted more closures, which snarled traffic on Idaho’s primary north-south artery.
In a Sunday news release, the agency said the same gravel route at the base of the slide will open Monday morning at milepost 188. Drivers can navigate the single-lane route during daytime hours (from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), and flaggers and pilot cars will direct traffic.
“Our focus has always been centered on reopening the highway as soon as possible,” ITD operations engineer Jared Hopkins said in the news release. “The nature of this situation however, requires us to remain diligent and only make decisions when we can ensure the safety of both motorists and our workers.”
Crews were able to blast away many of the largest rocks in the roadway using explosives last week. Some boulders were as large as 40 feet across.
ITD will continue moving rocks and trying to stabilize the slide area in the coming weeks. The final repairs to mitigate the slope failure are scheduled to be awarded on July 30. Once awarded, the contractor will be asked to mobilize within 48 hours, according to ITD.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
