Idaho Mountain Express: Trail Creek Road should open by holiday weekend

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Trail Creek Road should open by holiday weekend

County crews working to clear debris

By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

The road to Trail Creek Summit is likely to be closed for the rest of the week, according to Blaine County Operations staff, as road crews clear avalanche debris from the winter season, above. Photo by Willy Cook

Despite the summer-like sunshine, Trail Creek Road is not open and may not be open until Memorial Day weekend. However, Blaine County staff said they hope to have the road open as early as late this week.

"[Road and Bridge crews] are in the process of clearing it right now," said Lynn Ternes, Blaine County operations administrative assistant. "There was quite a bit to clear off."

Trail Creek Road connects the Sun Valley area to the Lost River Valley and provides additional access to points east and north of the Wood River Valley.

Ternes said crews began work Monday and expect to continue throughout the week. As Trail Creek Road is notorious for avalanches and rockslides, she said it may take more than a week to clear the entire pass.

"By now the snow has melted off quite a bit, but there's still some debris that needs to be moved," Ternes said. "We just don't know how long it will take."

Last year, Trail Creek Road was still closed as of Memorial Day, due to a late, cold spring and a significant amount of avalanche debris that blocked the area until the first week of June. County Operations Director Char Nelson—who is on vacation this week—said at the time that the county will only open a road when it's passable for all vehicles.

"There's an expectation when we open a road that it's good for regular traffic," she said, including recreational vehicles or those pulling large trailers. "We don't want [drivers] to be in a situation that's unsafe."

All other county roads—including Croy Creek, Democrat Gulch, North Colorado Gulch, Picabo Desert, Quigley, Rock Creek and Muldoon Canyon—have been open to the public since late April.

Ternes said she would have more information on Trail Creek Road as of Thursday afternoon.

Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com

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