Getting AroundTop story
Zimmerman Trail is closed through Nov. 30 while crews secure rocks above the road
Zimmerman Trail's rock work runs through Thanksgiving
- SeptemberThe city bid the rock stabilization project.
- Nov. 9Zimmerman Trail closed at 8:30 a.m. between Rimrock Road and Highway 3.
- Nov. 30Rock work is expected to run through this day, over Thanksgiving.
Sources: KTVQ, NonStop Local Montana
If you cross the Rims, plan another route for the next three weeks. Zimmerman Trail closed Monday at 8:30 a.m. and stays closed through Nov. 30, Thanksgiving included. The closure cuts off a direct route between the West End and the Heights while crews work.
The city worked with engineering firm TerraCon, which flagged a rock shelf above the road showing signs of undermining and stress cracking. "When it would move or when it's going to fall, no one could really say," said Will Robbins, a Billings Public Works project manager. "There's lots of houses down below."
The closure affects thousands of drivers a day
- 3 weeks
- of closure, through Nov. 30
- 13,000
- vehicles use the trail on an average day
- 70 feet
- wide, the rock shelf flagged as at risk
- 20 feet
- deep, where crews will drill anchors
Sources: KTVQ, NonStop Local Montana
- Closed: Rimrock Road to Highway 3
- Reopens: by Nov. 30, and maybe sooner
- Also during the closure: guardrail repairs and geotechnical drilling
Crews will set steel anchors, then add shotcrete and cable, and cover it all with dyed shotcrete so it blends into the Rims. Sam Brewer, who works at Ace Hardware Boutique and lives in Shepherd, says the detour adds time to an already tight commute.
