MDT tour tells of impacts of Highway 2 improvements

The Montana Department of Transportation hosted its first public tour of proposed projects Wednesday at 11 a.m. Members of the community as well as members of and candidates for the Montana government were welcomed to join the MDT tour of U.S. Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 232.

The tour, which is normally held with local officials to brief them on projects in the area of the commission meeting, was expanded this year to allow members of the general public to attend as well.

Commission member Greg Jergeson of Chinook told the Havre Daily he requested the expansion because he wanted to allow more people to participate.

On the tour, representatives of MDT talked about new ways they are trying to keep Montana roads safe for drivers and the improvements already made as well as current and upcoming projects they have on the agenda for the next five years.

A report on a study on crashes on Highway 2 before and after work was done to improve the highway from Havre to about 10 miles east showed that the number of crashes and fatalities have dropped significantly.

The project was the first after Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, R-Glasgow, passed a bill directing MDT to widen Highway 2 to four lanes across the state, with several restrictions included in the bill. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus obtained federal funds to examine widening the highway from Havre to Fort Belknap.

After conducting the study, the Federal Highway Administration and MDT, under the direction of Director Dave Galt, approved creating a "Super 2" instead, with wider traffic lanes, wider shoulders and intermittent passing and turning lanes.

That project was completed from Havre to about 10 miles east in 2012, with upcoming projects in the zone to include sections of five-lane highway, with two traffic lanes each direction and a turning lane.

According to MDT, a recent Crash Data Summary for the 10 miles completed, from June 24, 2000, to June 24, 2010, and from Jan. 1, 2012, to May 29, 2018, the number of total crashes has been reduced from 99 to 48 incidents in those times. The data also shows the number of fatal crashes has gone from three in the before-work period, to 1 during the after-work period.

The total number of injuries caused by a crash has also been reduced, from 38 before the construction and with 16 after.

The data says the number of crashes during daylight hours has been reduced with 41 in the period before the work and 20 after. The number of crashes after dark dropped from 56 total crashes before the work and 20 afterward. The number at dawn went up slightly, from one to two, and also at dusk, from one to three.

The data also shows an overall reduction in the number of crashes factoring in road conditions. The study period before the work saw 82 accidents during dry road conditions. After the work, the number was reduced to 37. In wet conditions crashes went up slightly from three to five, in snow or slush dropped from seven to two, and in ice from seven to three.

The number of accidents that involved vehicles rolling over has been reduced drastically, with 16 rollover crashes during the before study-period reducing to one during the after study-period.

People on the tour also heard about new projects MDT has set to start within the next five years.

The projects include work on culverts in Chinook and Harlem and work on Highway 2 east and west of Lohman, east and west of Zurich, east of Harlem, east of Chinook as well as work on Montana Secondary Highway 232 north of Havre.

The Lohman East and West Project is set to begin Sept. 25, 2019, with the budget of $18 million to $23 million over the total length, 10.4 miles. The highway is set to include sections of five-lane highway with two traffic lanes each way and a turning lane. The project also could include work on two large bridges and two small bridges in 2020, to make it more safe for vehicles to pass as well as promote general road safety.

The project has already been approved by the federal government, although some issues are under discussion. For example, District Administrator Doug Wilmot said, the highway, after improvements, must remain 120 feet from the railroad tracks as well as remain a safe distance away from the Milk River. These issues are still under deliberation, he said.

Payment for this project will be split-funded over the period of two fiscal years.

The Chinook and Harlem culverts project includes repairs and replacements. The project budget is set at $2 million to $4 million and will be covering 24 miles of Highway 2. The project is still in the design phase and is set to begin Jan. 25, 2021.

The East of Zurich and Harlem Project is scoped to be a reconstruction, widening the road to be a five-lane highway in some locations. The project has a $15 million to $20 million budget and will be covering 6.94 miles. The project is still in the design phase. Preconstruction Engineer Steve Prinzing said some issues are under discussion, and the project is set to begin within the next five years.

The Zurich East and West Project is scoped to be a reconstruction, including widening the road to a five-lane highway in some locations. The project's budget is $15 million to $20 million and will be covering 7 miles. The project is in the survey phase currently and is set to begin within the next five years.

The Chinook East Project is a reconstruction over 5.9 miles, including expanding the highway to a five-lane in some locations, and has a $15 to $20 million budget. The project is set to start in the next five years and is still in the survey phase.

The Havre North project on Montana Secondary Highway 232 that runs from Havre to the Port of Wild Horse on the Canadian border will be a reconstruction with a budget of $8 million to $12 million over the length of 8.24 miles. This project is still under nomination with nomination likely to happen fall of 2018.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said that Highway 232 is in desperate need of reconstruction and that Hill Country views it as a serious issue. The highway was built in the 1940s and has unforgiving steep ditches where vehicles can easily roll over, he said.

Two curves on the highway need to be fixed and there are many accidents and fatalities on the highway, he said, adding that over the years the road has averaged one fatality a mile. The road is very narrow and makes it hard to pass slow-moving farm equipment, with some equipment crossing into the opposite lane, Peterson added.

There is wide support for the rebuild and the possibility of a land access program to help get the project started, he said, adding that federal access programs could be used to make these improvements.

Highway 232 is important for Havre and the Hi-Line due to many semi-trailers coming out from Canada that drive down the highway, as well as tourists and people driving to Canada, he said.

Peterson said that the importance of the project is undeniable and the improvements are "not if, but when."