Remainder of Swamp Creek project set for ‘beyond 2012’
Funding limitations hold back project
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
April 5, 2008
The remainder of a project to rebuild Highway 2 in the Swamp Creek area, the first portion of which was completed last summer, won’t happen until “beyond 2012,” a state highway engineer told Lincoln County officials last week.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” the Montana Department of Transportation’s Shane Stack told the county commissioners Wednesday.
In the works since the mid-1980s, the project is being held back by funding limitations, Stack said.
“What we could build 10 years ago for a million dollars, we can’t do,” he said.
Funding for highway projects is already scheduled for the next five years, and Swamp Creek is not on the list.
“Anything beyond five years, we don’t know where those projects fit as far as scheduling,” Stack said.
Reconstruction of the highway between markers 54 and 57 was undertaken last summer. The rebuilt highway includes two 12-foot driving lanes with paved shoulders four feet in width. The old roadway had 11-foot driving lanes with no paved shoulders.
The rest of the project includes two sections of highway between mile markers 45 and 54.
At last week’s meeting, Commissioner Rita Windom expressed concerns about the condition of bridges on that stretch of road. The bridges are deteriorating and won’t even suffice for the frontage road that is planned after the highway is rebuilt, she said.
“You’re going to have to fix those bridges at some point whether it’s a frontage road or a U.S. highway, so let’s put some Band-Aids on them so they’re safe to drive across,” she said.
Also scheduled for beyond 2012 are some major improvements to Pipe Creek Road between Bobtail Cutoff and Turner Mountain. The project includes realignments to eliminate some dangerous curves and other safety improvements including flattening of side slopes, installation of guard rails and creation of a ditch to aid in snow removal.
The Pipe Creek project will likely be done in two phases, Stack said. He said his best guess is that work will begin 2013. The project is estimated at $16 million and is expected to take three years to complete.
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Editor’s Note: See the March 31, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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