Two lanes recommended for local section of Highway 2

The Federal Highway Administration has initially opposed widening U.S. Highway 2 to four lanes from Havre to Fort Belknap, saying a two-lane with passing lanes will provide the same benefits and cause less damage to the environment.

The recommendation is included in a draft environmental impact statement for the project that is now being circulated for comments among state and federal agencies and the Citizens Advisory Council for the project.

Bob Sivertsen, president of the Highway 2 Association, has sent a letter to members and supporters asking for their support to oppose the agency's recommendation.

"The Highway 2 Association strongly disagrees with (FHWA) and hopes to change their minds before they render their final decision," he wrote.

Sivertsen could not be reached for comment this morning.

A draft of the environmental impact statement, written by David Evans and Associates of Denver, says the Federal Highway Administration prefers a wider two-lane highway on the 45-mile stretch, with passing lanes and left-turn lanes at some points.

FHWA said that configuration would meet all goals of the project, providing "a new, greatly improved and safer highway facility to serve the local communities, agriculture, industry, commerce and tourism while incurring fewer environmental impacts than the four-lane alternatives," the EIS says.

Building a four-lane could also take more time while the state seeks additional federal funding, while the two-lane alternatives could be budgeted through MDT's standard process, the EIS says.

FHWA makes the final decision on the preferred alternative in the EIS, which is required to be written by the National Environmental Protection Act for any project using federal funds that could significantly impact the environment.

Dale Paulson of FHWA said today that the selection of an improved two-lane as the preferred alternative could change as more information comes to light in the EIS-writing process.

"We made a preliminary call based on a preliminary document and we're asking for input," he said.

MDT's preferred alternative in the draft EIS is for a four-lane configuration, as required by state law. The 2001 Legislature passed a law requiring MDT to build a four-lane highway on the route of Highway 2 without using any state money or taking resources from other highway projects. It requires that MDT secure special appropriations from the federal government to widen the highway to four lanes.

David Evans and Associates project planner Colleen Kirby Roberts said Thursday the EIS is now being reviewed by different state and federal agencies, and that once their comments are incorporated into the document it will be put out for public comment.

Once the comment period is complete, FHWA will review the document and make its decision. That review could cause the federal agency to change its recommendation, she said.

"They need reasoning to support the other alternative if they're going to dohat," Kirby Roberts said.

Sivertsen said in his letter that the association strongly disagrees with some of the findings in the draft EIS, including results of an economic study. The study states that a four-lane highway would not significantly benefit the economy more than an improved two-lane highway with passing lanes.

The survey of businesses by the Highway 2 Association shows that business owners think otherwise, and the association hired a consultant whose economic study also is showing otherwise, Sivertsen said.

"Our consultant arrived at different conclusions and he demonstrates why we need a four-lane highway, not just in the study area but in the #2 Corridor from North Dakota to Idaho," he wrote.

The association plans to incorporate the survey results and the study results as comments in the EIS.