TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The city of Twin Falls is putting the finishing touches on emergency repairs to the newly constructed road into Shoshone Falls Park after flooding cut off visitor access just months after the road opened.
WATCH | Twin Falls crews finishing emergency road repairs at popular park after October flooding. Reopening expected soon—
Over the past two years, the city has been working on major improvements to Shoshone Falls Park, including the construction of a new road into the park.
The road opened in June but was closed in October after unprecedented high-water levels in Deirkies Lake caused significant flooding over the new roadway.
"This historic waterfall has been flowing more than we've ever seen it before – in my lifetime – and it plugged the pipe and was overflowing on the roadway here – deteriorating our brand-new road, and we needed to fix it as soon as possible," said Troy Vitek, Twin Falls city engineer.
The solution involved replacing an aging 15-inch pipe with a 24-inch pipe.
Vitek said the original 15-inch pipe under the roadway was not part of the reconstruction plan for the new road.
"It was a pipe that was working just fine, and we tried to stay away from waters as much as possible – we didn't see an issue with it at the time, and it really wasn't a drainage issue until we noticed this increased water... it just wasn't anticipated," Vitek said.
Another limitation on construction plans was the original 1930s retaining wall along the roadway – a piece of history the city wanted to preserve.
"It's not on any historic register or anything – but we always try to preserve the uniqueness of the area and make it as natural as possible," Vitek said.
Using $65,000 in emergency city funds, crews worked over Thanksgiving week, replacing the old pipe and clearing out the waterfall catch-basin while preserving the wall.
On Monday, crews began laying asphalt.
A reopening date for the park hasn't been set, but it should be very soon.
"We will probably give it a day or so to properly dry out – there has been a lot of water that went into the roadway - and we'll work with our parks and recreation department to try to determine when is the best time to reopen the park... but we'll do it as soon as possible," Vitek said.
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