Questions raised about road restrictions at MDT meeting

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson and Havreite Bob Sivertsen asked Thursday at a Montana Department of Transportation meeting with local officials if counties could put weight restrictions on county roads.

“We are going to look at it, talk about it and see what can be done,” Peterson said during the meeting in the Blaine County Library in Chinook.

He said the issue came up Wednesday at a public meeting about the county’s plan to apply for a $25 million BUILD grant. The restrictions discussed would apply to trucks such as those which are hauling grain and fertilizer. He said that in other states such as North Dakota, counties count the number of axles and calculate the weight of trucks. Trucks would need to have a permit to travel on these county roads and if they exceeded the weight limit the drivers would receive a ticket.

Sivertsen said that it could be a temporary ordinance for just the springtime when the the roads begin to break apart. Countries like Canada have restrictions which are taken very seriously, he added.

“That is the greatest cause of degradation on our highways,” Sivertsen said, adding that he has not seen the state government address the issue.

“I’ve never heard it come up in the Legislature,” he said

Montana Department of Transportation District Administrator Doug Wilmot said that, to his know-ledge counties can do temporary seasonal limits. He added that these restrictions would be applied to everybody, such as garbage trucks, and would not specifically target grain or fertilizer trucks.

These restrictions could not be statewide but implemented county by county, he said. A few counties in Montana have, in the past, put similar temporary restrictions in place. He said these restrictions would also have to be specific to individual roads and the counties must show that restriction is needed and have an engineering reason behind it.

Wilmot added that he will look further into the question and get back to them about the matter at a later date.

Montana Transportation Commissioner Greg Jergeson said the issue has not come up while he was in the Legislature, but he will also look into what has previously been done about the issue. He agreed that what breaks up highways and roads is weight and speed of vehicles.

Peterson said that policing the restriction would be better statewide and MDT would have issues enforcing it if it was only a single county.

“We are just going to start looking at it,” he said. “Last 10 years have been really tough on our roads and not just county roads but state roads, too.”

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said that Wednesday night two truck drivers also raised concerns to the commissioners about where Bullhook Road intersects with Clear Creek Road Southeast, which runs from Havre to Clear Creek Road in Blaine County. The truck drivers told her the intersection has a stop sign for Bullhook Road, which they always stop for, but because of the curve of the road they are not always able to see oncoming traffic and have had near accidents.

They would like to see the stop signs on either both of the roads or move the stop sign to Clear Creek Road Southeast, McLean said.

Wilmot said that the safety funding is used to fund specific projects applied to all county and local roads which pose a safety risk. MDT will review any road that has had a number of accidents, looking at is specific location, accident history and a cost benefit analysis

Upcoming projects

MDT maintenance Rob Gregory said Prince Inc. has been assigned as the contractor on the Gildford East Project that is expected to begin June 3 on U.S. Highway 2.

The project begins in Gildford about 1 mile east of the intersection with secondary highways 448 and 449 and extends east for 17.5 miles, ending east of Fresno Reservoir. The proposed work includes applying a new overlay and finishing with a seal and cover — chip seal — upgraded pavement marking, and signage.

Wilmot said that within MDT’s five-year plan a number of projects are prepared to start.

The U.S Highway 2 project to repair the section west of Havre is set to begin July 11 and is expected to be completed before the end of the year, he said. The project will be repairing parts of U.S. Highway 2 as well as repairing errosion underneath the bridge.

The Loma east and west of U.S. Highway 2, starting on the west end of Chinook will be a major reconstruction project, he said. The construction will include 40-foot tops and 8-foot wide shoulders. It will also include two five-lane passing lanes to increase passing opportunities on the highway.

The project will also tie into the Havre east project and includes the bridges and everything else needed work, he said. He added that the letting for the project should be approved in September of this year and should be two years to complete the construction.

“This is a big, big project for us, dollar wise,” he said.

Wilmot said that the Boulevard Avenue project in Havre should be let in November and should be able to start construction in 2020.

The original project repaved 11th Street the S-Curve by Montana State University-Northern past Havre Middle School to 16th Avenue West. The Boulevard Avenue project was removed from the original agreement because of insufficient funds.

The project begins at 11th Street and Boulevard Avenue and extends north to the Eighth Avenue West intersection and continues northeast on Eighth Avenue West, ending at West Second Street for a total of 0.79 miles.

He said the work will include pulverizing the existing surface and applying new asphalt surfacing. It will also upgrading ramps and culverts so they comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act where necessary, then finishing with a chip seal, upgraded pavement markings and signage.

Havre Public Works Director Dave Peterson said that the city is looking at a water line replacement on Boulevard Avenue before the MDT project starts. The project will tie into a 16-inch line at the top of the hill and is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

Wilmot said that the city of Havre needs to let MDT know about the progress of the project and when it is completed so the start of MDT’s project can be pushed back if needed.

Another project MDT will start in 2021 will be an overlay on the bridge deck on the bridge south of Havre where Fifth Avenue turns into Montana Secondary Highway 234.

MDT will also start a project east of Zurich running to Harlem, Wilmot said. He added that the project is 20 miles but has been divided into three projects which are about 7 miles each. The first project is a reconstruction which will include 40-foot tops and 8-foot shoulders and include a passing lane on the east end. He said the project will begin at the east end. Construction for the project is expected to begin in 2023 if everything goes to plan, he said.

The second Zurich project within the five-year plan will include many of the same characteristics, he said, but will include four bridges. He added that once the project begins detours will be put into place.

Havre MDT Maintenance Chief Matt Ladenburg said that after hearing a number of complaints about drivers passing through no passing zones in Turner, MDT will be placing a double solid yellow strip from corner to corner throughout Turner throughout every intersection to stress people should not be passing. He said they will start the project as soon as their striping machine is repaired.