After six months, and more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris, Highway 14 in north Idaho has finally reopened to traffic following a historic landslide.
The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) says the final shovels of dirt were removed last month. The highway finally reopened without any lane restrictions Aug. 24.
Nearly 15,500 truckloads have been hauled from the Elk City area, accounting for more than 235,000 cubic yards of debris.
A few weeks ago, crews removed the elevated catchment road created in the aftermath of the slide so that cleanup efforts could commence from both sides of the slide area, and to accommodate local emergency traffic.
The cleanup took about six months, costing close to $3.5 million of federal emergency-relief funds.
