After a rockslide and now impending storms, Idaho 55 will stay closed through Sunday
Idaho 55 will remain closed through the weekend near Smiths Ferry, the Idaho Transportation Department said Thursday.
The highway has been shut for more than two days after a rockslide Monday night.
An expert from out of state arrived Thursday to assess what the Idaho Transportation Department still deems a dangerous situation.
“A national rockslide expert has evaluated the slide that took place March 15 on Idaho Highway 55 and determined that the road should remain closed at least through Sunday, March 21, for safety reasons,” ITD said in a blog post Thursday. “ITD crews monitoring the slide have seen continued movement of the hillside,” read a post from the day before.
Storms and inclement weather are expected in the area of Smiths Ferry over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Possible snow and rain are increasing concerns about further sliding.
“With that precipitation we’re going to get, we just don’t know what’s going to happen to the slide area as rain and snow fall,” said Jake Melder, an ITD spokesman, by phone.
The out-of-state geotechnical engineer who evaluated the hillside is part of the same team that came to Idaho last July, when a rockslide south of Riggins blocked part of U.S. 95 for nearly a month.
Last Sunday, a 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Smiths Ferry, which may have loosened rock on the hillside.
“Was it a contribution? That’s what we’re investigating,” Melder said.
Officials recommend that travelers between Boise and McCall take alternate routes, like U.S. 95.
The closure is at a mile-long construction site between Smiths Ferry and the scenic Rainbow Bridge, where the two-lane highway cuts a narrow line between the Payette River and steep, rocky ledges to the west.
Construction crews had been preparing to blast rock from the hillside between mile markers 98.3 and 99.3 this week as part of a highway expansion project that may help alleviate future rockslide closures.
Construction on the hillside began last fall, when cuts were made at the site of the slide. At the time of Monday’s incident, crews were not working at the site.
“We understand that this road closure is not ideal, and are working extensively to reopen the road as soon as safely feasible,” ITD District 3 Engineering Manager Jason Brinkman said in Thursday’s post.
A mudslide near Banks closed Idaho 55 in April 2019.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 3:29 PM.
