Single lane of U.S. 95 opened to local traffic at area of landslide
Portion of highway near Council will be open only during daylight hours
COUNCIL — After being completely blocked for four days, U.S. Highway 95 near Council had a single lane open Thursday to local traffic only, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.
A landslide caused by heavy rain Sunday at milepost 146.5 caused damage to the highway and prompted officials to close the road in both directions.
The single lane will be open during daylight hours from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to local traffic only. The road will be closed next week when work begins to repair the highway.
The highway will fully close each night, since crews will only visually monitor the route during daylight for slumps or cracks that could indicate another slide, according to an ITD news release.
Commercial vehicles aren’t allowed on the route because of the narrowness of the road. Flaggers in New Meadows and Council will direct such vehicles to turn around. ITD is working on modifying the permitting process to allow for commercial vehicles to take Idaho Highway 55 instead.
“The engineering team is reviewing data from foundation drilling yesterday and are expecting a design of a retaining wall by Tuesday that will be anchored by steel piles driven into the stable rock layers of the slope,” according to the news release. “This data will tell the team where and how deep to drive the steel piles, and land surveyor data collected the last few days will identify the full size of the slide for wall length and height design.”
North-south travelers are encouraged to avoid the area by taking Idaho Highway 55 through the area.
