By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff
It appears the worst of winter is over, and as the snow makes its way into our water system, spring breakup threatens roads all over Bonner County.
Director of Bonner County Road and Bridge Steve Klatt said the county’s approach during spring breakup is one of prevention.
A washout along Lightning Creek Road as photographed in May 2016. Photo courtesy USFS.
“Our intention is to get roads closed before a real breakup happens, and we appear to have successfully accomplished that this year,” he said.
Klatt said crews have worked hard to get snow berms pushed back from road edges to expedite thawing. The sooner roads thaw, he said, the sooner they dry out.
Klatt noted that this winter’s freezing cycles are “problematic,” making it more difficult to in get layers of frost and moisture driven down into the roads.
“Similar winter cycles have given us some of the worst mud events, historically,” he said.
To combat such mud events happening this year, Klatt said Road and Bridge crews patrol roads to make sure all culverts and drain lines are not clogged with debris. Klatt said there are no county roads currently at high risk, but that can change quickly.
“There are no roads known to be especially vulnerable at this particular moment, but that can change dynamically in 24 hours should a major rain event roll down the mountainsides,” he said.
Klatt said there is currently only one county road closed due to spring breakup. Eastriver Road, north of Priest River, is closed due to a soil slump under the edge of the roadbed.
“We had a similar slump last year because of the super saturated soils and we’re watching closely for a re-occurrence,” he said. “We will make stabilization repairs after snow, frost and weight limits have run their course for this winter.”
Weight limits are currently in effect on all county roads, with specific limits posted in specific areas. Early morning hauling is not allowed on any county roads right now.
For additional information, contact Bonner County Road and Bridge at (208) 255-5681 ext. 1 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
While we have you ...
... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.
You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.
Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal
Coming up this week! Don’t miss out on Live performances of music & theater, fundraising, and more! See the full list of events in the 
