BOISE, Idaho — A 4-mile stretch of US Highway 95 remains closed Monday due a massive rockslide on the road.
The Idaho Transportation Department has brought in outside experts to examine the slope and identify options for stabilizing the area.
Results of geotechnical surveys on the slide showed significantly less movement on the slope Sunday, but the highway will remain closed Monday to allow for more monitoring.
“By tomorrow morning, we will have more data to compare to the baseline conditions of the slope,” Operations Engineer Jared Hopkins said.
Megan Sausser, public information officer for ITD, said they don't know the cause of the rockslide. She added the area is very active and prone to rockslides and mudslides. The closure is from mileposts 186 to 190, about five miles south of Riggins.
The current slide is 120 feet long and 40 feet deep. Sausser said some of the rocks are extremely large, with some of them measuring 20 feet across.
To clear those large rocks, Sausser said crews will have to break them up on the road in order to haul them off. Because of that she said it won't be a "quick cleanup."
"What we are doing is mobilizing equipment and people from around the region," Sausser said. "We have about two excavators, two dozers, two loaders and 12 trucks coming from all corners of the area just to get there and when it is safe to really work on it, we're ready to go."
Crews have finished constructing a temporary road around the slide at milepost 188 ( two miles north of Pollock), and have placed barriers to protect future traffic from rockfall.
“When survey results and on-slope evaluations prove that the slide is stable, we will look to open the highway for short periods of time,” Hopkins said. “In the meantime, we are evaluating the condition of Old Pollock Road to see how we may be able to help the county with a locals-only detour.”
Rockslide on Highway 95
ITD has submitted feedback to Google Maps to show that Old Pollock Road is currently not open to traffic. There is no detour around the slide, which has kept the highway closed since Friday morning.
Drivers are encouraged to download the 511 app, follow ITD on Facebook and Twitter and pay attention to signs in the area. Information on 511 is only updated if there is a change to the conditions of the highway.