Washout closes Blueslide Road

Saturday April 28, the Blueslide Road just outside of Thompson Falls was shut down due to a road wash out.

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel said the roadway washed out underneath the pavement which caused the road to be officially closed down at mile marker 14 on the east end and mile marker 13.5 on the west end.

Authorities with Montana Department of Transport along with Sheriff Rummel say the most likely cause of the washout was due to debris that made its way down off the top of the mountains, which possibly plugged the culvert that was designed to allow water and debris to travel underneath the pavement.

With the possibility of the culvert being blocked, water and material were then forced to find another path down the hillside.

Although the pavement is still in place at time of press, the underneath has been completely washed out making it high risk for traveling.

A specialized road crew team was traveling to the road closure on Monday morning out of Helena to further assess the damage. A geo technical engineer along with maintenance and construction staff were going to be on site to begin possible reconstruction options to fix the road.

Ed Toavs, MDT Missoula District Administrator, said that it was unknown at this time what the outcome would be to fix the road until a risk assessment was completed.

“We won’t know how best to fix the road until our crews get to the washout to see if it would be better to reconstruct for a long-term fix, or if there would be a possibility to work a short-term fix that would allow some kind of access via one lane,” he said.

Sheriff Rummel is advising residents who live on the western side of the washout to adjust their travel times to get to Thompson Falls as they will have to drive through to Trout Creek before connecting to Highway 200 to travel east bound.

While those that live on the eastern side of mile marker 14, should they require to travel to Trout Creek, they will need to go back towards Thompson Falls and connect to Highway 200.

Sheriff Rummel also advised that the Blueslide Road should only be seeing local traffic until such time the road can be repaired. He also urged locals to adhere to road signs that have been erected at both sides of the washout.

School bus routes have been redirected so students can still make their way to school in a timely manner.

For any locals on Blueslide Road looking for more specific updates, the Sheriff has advised they can make contact with Bill Naegeli at the Sanders County Office of Emergency Management on 406-827-6955.

Toavs advised that the MDT should have a basic plan in place by the end of the week, but could not confirm until an efficient risk assessment was completed.