We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Spring is just around the corner, and with the warmer weather comes many things, longer days, spring cleaning and more time outdoors as people shake off their cabin fever. Spring also brings road construction and while it can be a pain waiting in line for pilot cars or bouncing along temporary pathways to navigate through construction, the repair is greatly needed. Road conditions on US Highway 2, Montana Highway 66 as well as all the Blaine County roads are in a constant need of repair. Bridges are deteriorating with some in critical condition. The Blaine County Journal will continue to update our readers as plans are released and work is set to begin.
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) recently announced in a press release, "The East of Zurich to Harlem project, which will reconstruct seven miles of US Highway 2 (US 2) between Zurich and Harlem. This project begins at Eight Mile Road, 2 miles east of Zurich, and ends just west of Harlem. These improvements will enhance roadway safety and service to local communities, agriculture, industry, commerce, and tourism along US 2. The existing railroad tracks generally run parallel and north of the highway, and the Harlem Canal runs parallel and south of the highway. The new roadway centerline will follow the existing one, but slopes have been designed to minimize impacts on the railroad during the widening process. Widening this section of US 2 will allow MDT to achieve a modern, 40-foot-top roadway, including 12-foot travel lanes and 8-foot shoulders, and a two-mile passing lane segment east of 8 Mile Road with left turn bays for Miller Road and Trails End Road.
Two other projects are in the works, according to a press release, "The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), in conjunction with Great West Engineering, is rehabilitating six miles of US 2 between Chinook and Zurich in order to create a safer roadway. The project begins at the east edge of Chinook (near Illinois Street) and ends at the Battle Creek Bridge, six miles east of Chinook and three miles west of Zurich. The existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad tracks generally run parallel on the north side of the highway."
This project has been in the works for some time with the survey phase of the project taking place from 2020-2021 and included, "Collection of all field data, including environmental, hydrological, soil conditions, utility, and survey information in order to guide the design of bridges and the road alignment. The Design Phase took place from 2021-2023 to "Design the horizontal and vertical alignment of the highway. Develop bridge design, existing bridges will be replaced by a combination of new bridges and new large culvert structures (i.e., box culverts). Make turn lane decisions, the project will likely include the existing turn lane at Elloam Road." The Right of Way Phase is planned for 2023-2024 and its purpose will be to "Secure all the necessary land to build the roadway, finalize design and prepare detailed plans for construction the Construction Phase, 2024/2025 – 2026-2027."
In its proposal the MDT states, "Widening of US 2 to achieve a 40-foot top width roadway with two 12-foot lanes and two 8-foot shoulders; Flattening of highway side slopes to improve safety and meet current standards; and Replacement of 10 bridges and drainage/irrigation facilities along the project route," as its primary goals. The proposal explains the benefits of this work will include First improving safety to reduce the probability and severity of crashes increasing the operational capacity of the roadway improving service to the local communities, agriculture, industry, commerce, and tourism upgrading snow storage with 8-foot wide shoulders to allow driving lanes to remain passable for longer periods of time.
The sections crash history played a huge part in making it a first priority along this stretch of US Highway 2, "Crash History Montana Highway Patrol records show 52 crashes along this section of roadway in a 10-year period between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2017. As part of MDT's Vision Zero initiative the MDT has undertaken is to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on Montana's highways. One way MDT is working towards Vision Zero is through the engineering of Montana roadways to ensure Montana's thousands of miles of state roads and highways are built and maintained with safety as the first concern. Without good roads, bridges, and intersections, traveling safely and efficiently through Montana would be difficult. Not only would more deaths and injuries occur, but it would also be harder to do business, visit family, and organize community events. MDT is committed to providing transportation systems and services that are safe and affordable, protect the environment, and support economic growth for Montana."
In its proposal the MDT has addressed its environmental impact, "The Chinook East project is located in the Milk River, Lodge Creek and Battle Creek floodplains, and the design will ensure that the highway reconstruction does not increase flooding. The project will also include wetland mitigation to assist in addressing unavoidable impacts to wetlands and other aquatic habitats. MDT will also undertake the Wildlife Accommodation Process, which will determine if features are needed to mitigate the effects of the infrastructure on wildlife. These features minimize barriers to wildlife movement and reduce the potential for wildlife-vehicle conflicts. On this project, the primary features that will be considered include use of bridges to allow wildlife passage under the highway, fencing along the right-of-way and wildlife crossing warning signage."
According to the survey the projects impact to the public is minimal, "Periodic traffic control measures with reduced speeds and flaggers during field work. Geotechnical work with test holes bored into the existing highway and right-of-way to establish the soil conditions underneath and adjacent to the roadway to determine the thickness and design of the new roadway section." During the construction phase the public can expect, "One-lane traffic with flaggers during normal work hours and two-lanes open during nights and weekends. Several detours built to accommodate the reconstruction of the bridges will reroute traffic onto gravel sections either to the north or south of the existing bridges."
The second project is "Zurich E/W: Seven miles of roadway reconstruction with four bridges. Construction beyond 2024. Visit the Zurich E/W project website https://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/zurich/". As we receive updates on other road projects including work to be done on county roads and bridges the Blaine County Journal will pass that information on to our readers.
