Idaho 55 will reopen Wednesday morning, but not fully. Here’s what drivers should know
Idaho 55 near Smiths Ferry will reopen to one alternating lane of traffic beginning Wednesday morning, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.
A rockslide between Smiths Ferry and the Rainbow Bridge closed the highway late on March 15, and a section of the two-lane road has been shut down since then for safety reasons. Wednesday’s re-opening will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., according to an ITD blog post. The route will open on this daily schedule until crews are able to remove a dangerous rock outcropping that remains above the road.
“The rockslide that happened last week was a shelf underneath a spire. What used to be a spire is now an outcropping,” said Jake Melder, an ITD spokesman, by phone. “It is overhanging the rock face, and that’s where our concern lies.”
While the highway is open, travelers should expect 15-minute delays and the possibility of an early closure. A surveyor will monitor the hillside for movement and bad weather and will close the road if necessary, according to Melder.
ITD recommends travelers use U.S. 95 as an alternate route between Boise and McCall.
“We’ve got two different target points (we) are lasered onto right now and if (the outcropping) moves a certain threshold, we’ll shut it down,” Melder said. “If you do choose to use Highway 55, check 511, anticipate at least a 15-minute delay, and be ready to have a closure on you suddenly and have to turn around.”
In the coming days, ITD plans to again close the highway to plant explosives on the outcropping and remove it.
The rock fall occurred within a mile-long highway construction zone, and crews will continue work on the road each day after 3 p.m., according to Melder. Among other changes, workers are installing a rock catchment ditch along the highway that may provide a buffer to forestall future closures.
“That (catchment ditch) provides an open area for rocks to fall down and land in the ditch instead of the road … that’s a safety feature that we’re constructing with this project,” said Melder. “But there is a certain reality of the mountain material that we have. Rocks and boulders will break free pretty regularly.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 4:06 PM.
