Flood damage leads to Wild Horse highway closure

Weather problems have led to a temporary closure Wednesday on the highway leading to the Port of Wild Horse north of Havre on the U. S.-Canadian border to allow road work that day.

The state Department of Transportation announced Monday that a section of Montana Highway 232 will be closed for two to three hours Wednesday starting at 9 a. m. to repair a culvert that collapsed. No detour will be available during the work.

The culvert is about one-half mile south of the split in the highway where 232 continues northwest to Wild Horse and Montana Highway 233 proceeds north to the Port of Willow Creek.

U. S. Customs and Border Protection is recommending travellers use alternate ports to enter Canada or the United States during the road work.

The Port of Turner, north of the town of Turner and about 60 miles east of the Port of Willow Creek, is open 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. It is a permit-only port, so commercial traffic must have a port permit to use the entry.

The Port of Sweetgrass, north of Shelby and about 60 miles south of Lethbridge, Alberta, is a 24-hour commercial port. Sweetgrass is equipped for commercial cattle and swine shipments, beef and pork, animal feeds, fish and wildlife products, and shipments regulated by U. S. Food and Drug Administration.