Community Meeting Planned Thursday in Elk City
LEWISTON, Idaho (News Release) – Idaho Transportation Department officials and Idaho County commissioners will meet with Elk City-area residents this Thursday, April 7, to discuss progress on clearing a rockslide from Idaho 14.
The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Elk City School auditorium. Citizens are invited to share ideas about traffic flow into and out of the community and how to best accommodate recreational visitors to the area east of the slide on Idaho 14.
Results from geologic drilling and testing should be available to present at the meeting. Geologists finished gathering field data late last week in an attempt to determine how much material still may have to be removed.
Extending access roads and removing timber from the outside fringes at the top of the slide took place Saturday. Sunday, crews reduced the size of some boulders at the “catchment” zone that is designed to contain minor debris flow.
ITD officials will discuss procedures for public travel across the slide when they meet Thursday with area citizens and county commissioners. The access route, controlled by flaggers and a pilot vehicle, is open to general travel from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and again from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Those times can vary slightly, and those changes will be announced to the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office when possible.
The transportation department is committed to meeting the needs of residents and visitors, and will consider options to alter the travel periods, if possible, as long as it can be done safely.
ITD understands the hardship and inconvenience the rock slide has caused for residents of Elk City and surrounding areas and will consider reasonable suggestions to change the travel process.
Rob Feeley, north-central area field officer for the Bureau of Homeland Security, will be available at Thursday’s public meeting to discuss provisions of a Small Business Administration low-interest loan program. Federal assistance may be available for business owners who sustained financial losses because of the Feb. 18 landslide.