Fall closures scheduled on Idaho 55. Here’s when route to McCall will be blocked
Construction work on Idaho 55 near Smiths Ferry will continue after Labor Day with weekday closures, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.
Starting Wednesday, Sept. 8, the highway will be closed Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for “controlled rock blasting,” according to a news release.
During other hours of the day, one lane of the highway will remain open, with flaggers directing alternate one-way traffic, the release added.
The fall closure is expected to last until mid-November, when the entire highway will be reopened for the duration of the winter. In its Thursday release, the transportation department warned drivers to expect traffic at the site near Smiths Ferry throughout the fall.
The project to widen the shoulders of the highway, reduce the number of curves and add sections of guardrails began in September 2020 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022, according to the transportation department’s website.
“To date we have excavated about 100,000 cubic yards of material, which allows us to expand the shoulders by 4 feet in the canyon,” Alex Deduck, the project manager, said in the release. “Ultimately, this project will make passage in the canyon safer for drivers.”
In March, a rockslide occurred at a construction site along the highway after melting snow seeped into the hillside where work crews were cutting and blasting into the rock, according to a department blog post. The road was closed for over a week. After the slide, the department hired geotechnical experts to “improve reliability” and stability at the blasting sites, the post said.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 1:57 PM.
