According to Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, a stretch of the Blackfoot River remains closed for safety reasons. FWP Information and Education Program Manager Vivaca Crowser says the river is closed from the Weigh Station Fishing Access Site to the confluence with the Clark Fork River.

“We are going to try to let people know as much as we can in advance,” Crowser said. “It is closed right now and it will reopen on Saturday, May 12. It will be closed here just a little bit longer. We anticipate it will happen again sometime in the summer. There will be quite an open period here during the late spring if it is safe to be on the river with the flows.”

Crowser says that part of the river is closed because there is still reconstruction work being done on the Interstate 90 bridges.

“This construction all in all will last about two years,” Crowser said. “This is something we are going to be watching for quite a while. There is quite a bit of reconstruction to those tiers, which ultimately is a great thing because it will make that so much safer. There have been safety concerns with those bridge piers and floaters since they were put in. The long term is excellent, but in the short term there is quite a bit of deconstruction, concrete blasting, debris falling in the river, things that you just really don’t want to be very close to.”

The river is closed to all usage, such as floating, swimming, wading and fishing. Crowser urges river users to check the FWP website for any further updates.

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