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Interstate 90 opens sooner than expected

by BRIAN WALKER/Staff writer
| March 5, 2014 8:00 PM

Getting to Montana became a little easier Tuesday afternoon.

Eastbound Interstate 90 from the Idaho/Montana state line at Lookout Pass to St. Regis, Mont., was reopened at 3 p.m. after concerns about avalanche threats diminished.

The closure was announced by the Montana Department of Transportation after 5 p.m. Monday.

The freeway was reopened Tuesday, less than four hours after the Idaho Transportation Department issued a press release stating the eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed until at least Thursday.

"By the time a team got up there to poke and probe around (to assess the avalanche threat), the danger was not as bad as first thought and didn't warrant that the highway remain closed," said Steve Grant, ITD spokesman.

Eastbound travelers heading to Montana were asked to use U.S. 95 to Highway 200 near Sandpoint or U.S. 2 near Bonners Ferry as alternate routes.

Grant said that, while it's unfortunate that motorists had to take the alternate routes during the 22-hour closure, situations involving Mother Nature can be unpredictable. In such cases, it's better to be safe than sorry, he said.

"Nobody wants to find themselves in an avalanche," Grant said.

Barb Hanson was among the motorists who were diverted due to the closure. The Moses Lake, Wash., woman filled gas at a Coeur d'Alene station on Tuesday morning while the closure was still in effect.

"It's a bummer," she said of the closure. "But I understand it if it's dangerous. I'm just glad I'm not in a hurry."

Hanson likely lost time taking the alternate route as she was headed to Billings on Interstate 90, but, with the reopening time unclear, she thought the other route would be better than waiting in Coeur d'Alene.

This was the first closure of Interstate 90 in the Lookout Pass area due to avalanche danger since Jan. 27, 2008. It was closed for 37 minutes that time.

For the latest highway and weather conditions, call Idaho Traveler Services at 5-1-1. For online updates, visit 511.idaho.gov. Telephone and Web reports are available 24 hours a day and are updated as conditions change.

In the other direction on Interstate 90, Snoqualmie Pass in western Washington reopened Monday afternoon. Heavy snowfall and natural slides carrying mud, trees and other debris blocked freeway traffic in both directions late Sunday.