Concern the MP 498 slide could go again

April 13, 2017

The slide area near mile 498 at Mountain Meadows Road on Highway 95 remains active, and with the possibility of additional rain and thunderstorms this afternoon, further slide activity could take place at any time, possibly resulting in a third highway shutdown. Boundary County Sheriff Dave Kramer met this morning with Idaho Transportation Department maintenance supervisor George Schutes to make plans to keep traffic moving, and they established the following three detour routes for non-commercial traffic; Trail Creek to Green Pastures to Mountain Meadows or Deep Creek Loop to Lookout View to Pleasant Valley Rd to Hwy 95 or Deep Creek Loop to Lions Den to West Side to Riverside. Should the hill slide again and close the highway, commercial traffic will be rerouted around Highway 200 in Ponderay to Bull Lake Road (Highway 56) to Troy, Montana, and Highway 2 to Three Mile Junction. If the highway or any of the county roads end up becoming closed the Sheriff's Office will issue the information on NIXLE as well has social media. We encourage all county residents or people who travel through Boundary County to sign up for this service. To do so you can either go to the NIXLE website, http://www.nixle.com, or simply text 888777 with the zip code 83805 in the subject area. In addition, NewsBF personnel will be keeping an ear open and, if the hill goes again, well get word out within moments, both on this website, on our Facebook page and via emergency email alerts.