Caution: Road Work Slow Thompson Pass Road Will Open, But Won’t Be Finished

Thompson Pass Road construction, originally planned for completion in September, won’t be finished until August 1998.

It will also cost $10 million, which is $2.5 million more than planned, project engineer Bob Miller said Wednesday.

But there’s good news for travelers who like to take the scenic mountain route between Murray, Idaho, and Thompson Falls, Mont.

“Beginning Labor Day weekend, the road will be open after 6 p.m. and on weekends,” Miller said.

A temporary asphalt surface and guard rails will be completed by this winter. Shoshone County plans to plow the road, Miller said, something that was impossible last winter because of extremely deep snow.

The 10-mile stretch of unpaved road has been a sharp contrast with the smooth Montana pavement that it meets at the top of the 4,859-foot pass.

It’s been closed since construction began in spring 1996. The work is taking place partly within the Idaho Panhandle National Forests and is being directed by the Federal Highway Administration.

Inclement weather earlier this year is one reason for the construction delays.

“We get a better paving job when it’s hot than when it’s wet and cold,” said Miller.

Workers also encountered more subsurface water than expected. That meant putting additional rock without dirt into the roadbed, so that water could drain through.

“There’s about a half-a-million dollars worth of rock there that you can’t see,” Miller said.

Crews are putting in retaining walls now. Thirty to 40 people are working at the site, Miller said.

He predicted that drivers will like what they see when the 24-foot road is finally finished. Soil is being trucked in to cover tailings piles; there will be paved turnouts, and a scenic overlook at the top of the pass complete with Forest Service interpretive signs.

“This is going to be a pretty fancy road - the best one in Shoshone County, and that includes the interstate,” Miller said.

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