Lightning Creek Road reopens

CLARK FORK — Lightning Creek Road No. 419 will be opened for public travel on Saturday, the U.S. Forest Service has announced.

The route had been closed since 2006, when flash flooding devastated the Lighting Creek drainage. Extensive repairs were conducted last summer and this fall.

“I am excited to be able to reopen this road after three years,” said Sandpoint District Ranger Dick Kramer. “Lightning Creek is a unique area that the public has been anxious to access again.”

The initial phase of restoration in the drainage cost $1.25 million and was funded through a Federal Highway Administration program that enables emergency repairs on federally-owned roads.

The repairs included the placement of a bridge over the East Fork of Lightning Creek, which has not had a bridge since 1980. The new bridge will make the area more accessible because motorists will no longer have to wait for spring runoff to subside, which usually occurs in June or July.

The road to Porcupine Lake has been converted to an all-terrain vehicle trail with a low-water crossing. The old bridge used to access Porcupine Lake has been removed.

The second phase of repairs in the drainage is planned for next summer, although the work will not hamper use of Road No. 419, Forest Service officials said.