2/15/2008
U.S. 12 reopened between Lowell and Lolo Pass
LEWISTON - U.S. 12 reopened to traffic Friday evening after a 15-day closure caused by a series of avalanches between Lowell and Lolo Pass. The route opened at about 9:15 p.m. (MST), the Idaho Transportation Department announced.
Crews finished removing debris Friday morning from the last of two avalanches that were discovered earlier in the week in a previously restricted zone near milepost 132. The highway closed Jan. 31 when an avalanche buried the road and temporarily stranded a dozen trucks. Sometime that evening or early Feb. 1 three other avalanches occurred.
Although traffic is restored on the route from Lewiston to Missoula, Mont., motorists can expect delays Saturday near milepost 134 -- about 35 miles east of Lowell and 40 miles west of Lolo Pass -- as crews remove a trailer from the Lochsa River. A truck and its load of lumber were pushed into the river by one of the first four avalanches.
The driver escaped without injury.
The tractor and contents of the trailer were removed earlier, but the trailer remained on its side in the river. The area was restricted because of the potential for additional avalanches.
Flaggers and a pilot car will direct traffic through the area beginning at about 9 a.m. (MST) Saturday. Removal of the trailer is expected to take most of the day.