County roads take a beating from weather

by David Trigueiro

The wettest spring in recent memory has forced Washington County Road and Bridge crews to close several roads as hillsides give way and gravel surfaces turn to mud, Supervisor Kelly Erickson reported to the Board of Commissioners Monday.

The bottom of Hog Creek Road literally fell out, Erickson said, and an isolated mini-cloudburst at the end of last week pushed Rock Creek to a “massive flow” that ripped over road surfaces, washing out the beds creating a “sloppy juice” of water and mud.

“This isn’t being caused by snowmelt,” Erickson said, “it is just rain – lots of rain.”

Weiser River Road remains open, Erickson said, but a big section has sunk and a “whole hill has sloughed out” covering parts of the Weiser River Trail and endangering the stability of the road surface.

Erickson cautioned drivers to keep a sharp eye out when driving on Weiser River Road looking for cracks in the road surface ahead. “If you see any cracking, don’t cross it,” he warned.

Erickson asked that drivers using the road report any changes they see in the road surface to the Road and Bridge Department. Crews have to go back in and shore up the hillside, he said, but continued rains are making the job considerably more difficult. They have to make a place for the water to go, but the “sloppy juice” is nearly impossible to move.

“We’re going to have quite a few weeks before the water comes out,” Erickson said.

Making matters worse are drivers who move barricades and drive on roads that have been closed to hunt or simply to sightsee. Bear season has been open for three weeks and the spring turkey hunt just opened, Erickson said.

Someone cut the lock off the gate blocking the closed upper portion of Jenkins Creek Road, he said, and turkey hunters have been going in despite the deep mud covering the road surface. This will cause deep rutting, making the road even more impassible and considerably more difficult and expensive to repair.

“It’s inevitable that a lot of people are going to get stuck up there,” Erickson said.

Following Erickson’s report, commissioners heard from Bill Shanahan and Jackie DeCroo, whose home on Cove Road near the corner of Couper Lane has been threatened by flooding they maintain is caused by the county raising the surface of Cove Road on the recommendation of the Army Corps of Engineers following the massive 1997 flood.

Shanahan said he has put off suing the county while commissioners await the report of an engineer they asked to look into the matter approximately a year ago. Meanwhile, his property and other properties on that section of Cove Road have been battling floodwaters trapped by the elevated road surface and directed into his driveway and garage. This spring, the waters have come up as far as the house, he said.

Commission Chairman Diana Thomas said the commissioners had not yet received a written report from the engineer looking into the matter and could not make any decisions until it was available. She sent word to Washington County Clerk Sharon Widner to see if the report could be found.

Shanahan and DeCroo said their efforts to divert floodwaters crossing the road with sandbags was continuously disrupted by sightseers who moved barricades closing Couper Lane in order to drive down to the bridge over the Weiser River and look at the high running river. Many parked on the bridge to look over the side of the bridge, they said.

“With that water lapping up at the bridge surface and big branches and some whole trees floating down the river, those pilings could be knocked out any time and those people will be washing down the river,” Shanahan told commissioners. He added that school buses have also been using the bridge despite the dangerous conditions.

Meanwhile, sightseers’ cars drive by their house at 35 mph, he said, while he and DeCroo are building a small dyke with the sandbags, sending a wall of water up over them as they go through the water on the road.

They said sheriff’s deputies and Weiser police stationed at the barricades have not stopped or issued citations to drivers going around the barricades on Couper Lane. One news crew from a Boise television station set up a shot of an elderly woman getting out of her car, moving the barricade on Couper Lane aside, then driving around it.

“Nobody tried to stop her or the television crew,” Shanahan said. “They just watched it all happen.”

Erickson acknowledged that “about 90 percent” of the traffic in the area was sightseers. His crew members have no authority to stop the offenders or issue citations, he added, and suggested Shanahan should contact the sheriff.

Shanahan said he and DeCroo have written down the license numbers of offending cars and turned them over to the sheriff’s office and are waiting for the office to take action.
 

--WEISER SIGNAL AMERICAN
4/19/06