Temporary road around US-95 now open during daylight hours after rock slides
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RIGGINS — The Idaho Transportation Department has announced that it has opened a “shoofly,” or a temporary road, around a section of US-95 that has been blocked by rock slides.
The shoofly is a two-lane road and will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. MDT so it can be observed for any more dangerous activity.
“We are tracking this, and our goal with these surveys is to close it if we need to,” Megan Sausser from the ITD Office of Communication told EastIdahoNews.com.
Sausser said this was a short term solution for the ITD, but no long-term solutions could be announced until they receive bids from contractors. She said it is likely to include some combination of blasting and reinforcement of the existing slope.
RELATED | WATCH: Rockslide closes U.S. 95 near Riggins, cutting off vital north-south Idaho route
The original rock slide occurred on July 3. The road was temporarily opened again July 8 but closed again after one day due to movement on the slope.
“That closure was well-timed, as within 24 hours we had a second event bring down more material,” said Jared Hopkins, operations engineer. “The second slide was larger than the first, completely demolishing Conex containers we had placed to shield traffic and once again burying the shoofly.”
The ITD temporarily diverted traffic to a previously closed county road so the biggest rocks blocking the highway could be removed.
RELATED | ITD blasting rockslide on US-95 near Riggins
The biggest boulder from the second slide, which occurred on July 10, was 42 feet wide, 50 feet long, and had an average height of 23 feet, according to the ITD press release. It weighed more than 3,500 tons.
After blasting the rocks, crews were able to prepare the shoofly along the base of the slide.
“It’s a priority to get 95 fully functional,” Sausser explained.
The ITD encourages those planning on traveling through US-95 to check 511.idaho.gov or itd.idaho.gov for any updates before leaving, in order to know current hours of operations, or more possible closures.