UPDATE: I-84 reopens

THe westbound lanes of I-84 have been reopened after portions of them were closed for most of the Thursday. There are lane restrictions at present between mileposts 115 and 119, roughly the "China Wall" section of the interstate.

The westbound lane originally had been closed from Boise to Bliss, but the section from Mountain Home to Boise opened at roughly noon. The section from here to Bliss remained closed until about 4:20 p.m. There had been a number of accidents on that stretch of road involving semis earlier in the day.

The eastbound portions of the interstate reopened at 1:45 p.m.

An overnight winter ice storm that turned roads into skating rinks had closed the entire interstate between Boise and Bliss in the morning and triggered school closures throughout the county.

Motorists taking the reopened stretches of the highway are urged to exercise caution and reduce their speed and increase their distance between vehicles until conditions improve.

For the latest closure information, people can go online to the Idaho Transportation Department's web site at www.511.idaho.gov or dial 511 from a cell phone or call 1-888-432-7623.