WALLACE — Road failures in the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River region could cost Shoshone County more than $50,000.

Public Works Director Jessica Stutzke recently told county commissioners that three sections of road, two of them along Old River Road and another on Prichard Creek Road, need to be repaired or replaced: 

The sections along Old River Road are near milepost 12, where Stutzke said the road has experienced "complete surface failure." 

“The surface has to come up,” she said. “There’s no patching that could be done, and every day that we let it sit, it becomes worse.”  

Stutzke said the two sections total roughly 700 feet and could be repaired for $50,000. However, that money would need to come from a different line item in the public works budget.  

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman suggested the county explore other options before moving forward. One idea was to pulverize the existing failed roadway and instead resurface the road with gravel. According to Zimmerman, several counties have made this decision because they cannot afford to maintain paved roads.  

Old River Road is a Schedule A Road under the United States Forest Service, which means it gets to have some say on any maintenance or changes that occur with the roadway.  

Because this road also provides some residential access, the board would like to hear from the public about potentially moving to a compacted gravel roadway.  

Commissioner Melissa Cowles also voiced concerns over a lack of proper drainage in the area, potentially accelerating road failures.

The third section of road discussed was a 300-foot section of Prichard Creek Road between Murray and the Coeur d’Alene River Road cutoff. 

Stutzke said the section needed to be replaced quickly due to high traffic. That project didn’t have an estimate, but Stutzke said the county’s untouched Road Construction Budget could cover it.

Commissioners agreed with Stutzke’s assessment, but Zimmerman reaffirmed that the cost of paving is only going up and the county is going to have to continue to make difficult decisions concerning its roads.  

“As a county, we’ve got to really look at what we can maintain and what we can’t maintain,” Zimmerman said.  

Info: [email protected], and [email protected], or by calling 208-752-1264.