Reservoir road link restored

Bridge now spans gap created when road washed out

As a temporary bridge was lowered over Lost Johnny Creek on Friday, pressure mounted on the Forest Service to open the western route along Hungry Horse Reservoir for the Fourth of July weekend.

A crane lowered the bridge into place Friday morning, creating a span over a 60-foot gap in the road - a washout that resulted from heavy rains and a plugged culvert two weeks ago.

Late in the afternoon, Hungry Horse District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera announced it would be opened for vehicle traffic by 8 p.m. Friday, ready for holiday weekend.

DeHerrera urged travelers to be cautious when approaching the single-lane, 70-foot-long bridge.

"The ground is soft at the approaches, so people really need to slow down," he said.

When the West Side Reservoir Road washed out, forest officials scrambled to reopen one of the most heavily used routes on the Flathead National Forest.

DeHerrera said public interest in reopening the road has been building over the last two weeks.

"Our phone has been ringing off the hook all day," he said. "There's that much interest in people wanting to get up there for the holiday weekend."

Campsites along the reservoir's west shore are typically busy around the Fourth of July.

"And especially with the weather forecast we have, people are excited about getting up there," he said.

But contractors working on the bridge also are going on vacation for the long weekend, so the job had to be finished by Friday, DeHerrera said.

The bridge likely will be in place for a long time.

"Right now, our best guess is this temporary bridge could be in place for the next two years," DeHerrera said. "We have to design the permanent bridge, and we'll have to get funding for it, which could be the biggest hang-up."

The cost "will be substantial," he added. "It's going to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's enough to where we won't be able to fund it ourselves."

Instead of coming from the forest's road-maintenance budget, money for the permanent bridge will probably have to come from Forest Service capital investment or emergency funds.

The temporary bridge was installed faster than originally expected.

"I'm just totally impressed at how quickly it came together," DeHerrera said. "It was only two weeks ago today that it washed out. And at that time we were estimating it would take a month to get a temporary bridge in place."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com