Spring Runoff Damages Martin Canyon Road
BELLEVUE, Idaho (KLIX) – The results of a fire that destroyed vegetation last year is still causing havoc in an area outside of Bellevue.
Spring runoff has damaged Martin Canyon Road, about 3 miles east of Bellevue, leaving ruts and gullies more than 6 feet deep.
The Twin Falls office of the Bureau of Land Management the damage to the road is directly associated with the loss of vegetation resulting from the 2017 Martin Canyon Fire, which last summer burned away vegetation that normally holds soil in place during spring snowmelt and rainfall.
The agency says the road is currently impassible, but that it is working on solutions.
“We are working on a path forward,” Codie Martin, who manages the Shoshone Field Office, said in a prepared statement. “We need to figure out how much of the road may still be useable and what it will cost to repair damaged sections.
“In the meantime, however, we want folks to know that getting this road back to a safe and driveable condition may require a continued closure.”