The Ada County Highway District Commissioners voted Thursday to close Alto Via Court and part of Strata Via Way in southeast Boise due to the risk of landslides in the neighborhood.
The vote was taken at an emergency meeting.
“Commissioners took the action based on input from District staff and outside experts, who were concerned about the ongoing deterioration of the roads as well as the potential for a rain-fed slide this weekend,” said ACHD spokesman Craig Quintana.
Since intensive monitoring began in early April, the ground in the area has been moving at a rate of between 1- and 2-inches a week, Quintana stated. “That has caused the sidewalks to buckle and break and the pavement to crack. ACHD has performed repairs in recent weeks but has concluded it cannot keep up with the damage,” he added.
Signs will go up Friday morning advising the public that Alto Via is closed at Table Rock Road and that the far end of Strata Via is also closed to public access.
“Residents will be able to enter the area at their ‘own risk’ if they want to access their residences,” Quintana said.
The Commission’s action was based on two factors:
• The street cannot be maintained in a safe condition, meeting ACHD standards, and
• Fear of a catastrophic slide occurring this weekend when forecasted rain could cause the hillside to become more unstable.
The closure is set to last thirty days but the ACHD Commission is due to ratify the closure at its May 11 meeting, Quintana said.
"The road itself is not in the condition for people to be driving across it or to be walking it's or to biking it, any of those things," Quintana said. "And then there's the potential for something worse to happen where that hillside to really let go in one big event. It could be a recipe for some big damage."
