Work begins on Old River Road

WALLACE –– A paving project along Old River Road began earlier this week, with crews addressing three key sections that were deemed the worst of the aging highway.  

Last week, Shoshone County Public Works Director Jessica Stutzke and engineer Jim Roletto spoke with the Shoshone County Commissioners to update them on the status of the project and get permission for them to make a few changes.  

According to Stutzke, the county’s initial plan for the project was to complete it in-house, but due to some changes with staffing and equipment, that was no longer feasible.  

Instead, Stutzke and Roletto used a unique piece of Idaho Code allowing them to pre-qualify companies for the project instead of the more traditional bidding process.  

Roletto explained that they pre-qualified three companies to ensure they were getting the most competitive pricing, before choosing Interstate Concrete and Asphalt out of Coeur d’Alene.  

The county received a price of $113 per ton of asphalt to complete the 2,500-ton job, which the commissioners approved during the meeting.   

“It’s a quicker process,” Roletto explained. “All three companies we looked at have asphalt plants, so you can’t beat their prices.” 

The project was scheduled to be completed this year, and Stutzke had a timeframe that she had to utilize the funds earmarked for it otherwise they’d be forfeited.  

The plan is to pave roughly 6,000 feet of the 18-mile road in the three sections deemed to be in the most critical condition. All three sections are below the milepost 8 mark on the road.  

“We made some promises to people on Old River Road,” Roletto said. “The road is in pretty tough shape, and we picked the worst sections of a bad road.”   

Stutzke told the board that the project would be completed by the end of October, and that county crews had already completed some preliminary work, including ditching and culvert repairs, to make sure that there wouldn’t be anything to hold up the paving work.  

“We want this pavement to last,” Stutzke said. “We don’t want to be doing this again in a few years.”  

There will also be some chip sealing done in the same area once the paving is completed.