Highway 2 group will redouble efforts

Members of the Highway 2 Association are worried that some people think their cause is dead.

Two members said at Friday’s meeting in Havre that people have told them they thought that supporters had given up on the thought of making the highway four lanes from Culbertson across the northern tier of Montana.

Nothing could be further from the truth, members agreed, and they plan to reinvigorate the campaign.

New, brighter signs advocating “4 for 2” will be placed along the highways, the group’s website will be updated and a Facebook page may be built touting the advantages of the cause, it was decided at a meeting in Havre on Friday.

The effort should concentrate on attracting young people to the effort, said Toole County Commissioner Deb Brandon.

“Young people drive,” she said, predicting they would likely support improvements to the highway.

While work is beginning in the eastern part of the state, in the midst of the Bakken oil boom, the pace is too slow, said Bob Sivertsen, longtime chair of the organization.

Sivertsen and former Havre City Councilman Bob Kaul said they are continuing their effort to get Highway 2 reconstructed to four lanes from Havre to Harlem.

But Sivertsen said — and others agreed — that federal funding is being delayed because of Washington politics and the drop in gasoline prices.

Lower prices mean less money is brought in.

Sivertsen said the solution is a 5 percent increase in federal gasoline taxes.

But he said he was opposed to any effort by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to raise gas taxes, because it would put the state at disadvantage with neighboring North Dakota, which has kept taxes down.

Even without having a four-lane highway, he said, much can be done to improve the economy of the corridor, he said.

Oil from the Alberta tar sands area could be refined in towns along the Hi-Line, he proposed.

Hi-Line refineries have dried up in recent years, members said, in part because of environmental regulations

“We used to have refineries in Havre,” said Kaul. “There were two refineries.”

While some members complained federal Environmental Protection Agency rules have made it harder for businesses, Sivertsen said said Montana regulators are the reason for the troubles.

He said businesses are going over the state line to North Dakota because North Dakota is more business-friendly.

The association's meetings are held quarterly around the Hi-Line. The next session willbe in Culbertson at a date to be determined.