Powder River Examiner -

As of Monday, April 1, all county roads in Powder River County have been re-opened to at least one lane of travel for passenger vehicles, according to the County Commissioners.

The flooding which occurred in mid to late March inundated a number of roads across the county, causing several roads to wash out. A major factor in these incidents was culverts being plugged with debris; the resulting damming of water behind the plugged culverts would then wash over the road and wash away the road surface at the downhill side of the road.

According to Commissioner Rod Schaffer, the Crow Creek Road completely washed out last week, while other roads sustained a substantial damage.

The County Road Crew has been working to make the flooded roads passable, and also to move in loads of material to fix the roads for good, once conditions allow. The commissioners are planning to look into long term solutions for the more chronic problems – such as roads which have washed out on multiple occasions.

One potential fix is to replace the culverts in these problem areas with bridges, which would allow more passage of debris. Bridges are an expensive and complicated fix, so the County and City are working with Montana DES coordinators to secure disaster funding through the state.