Angela Brandt
Havre Daily News
abrandt@havredailynews.com
The Hill County Commission wants the Montana Department of Transportation to make an intersection north of Havre less dangerous for motorists.
Commission chair Kathy Bessette, in a meeting on Tuesday, asked MDT Havre division maintenance chief Dave Hand to address a problem she sees at the intersection of St. Joe Road and Wildhorse Road.
She said she knows the “Y” well because she makes the turn every day on her drive from her farm to work at the Hill County Courthouse, and she's concerned about drivers' safety.
“The other day the road was really icy. I was going very slowly but I could see what could happen,” Bessette said in an interview Tuesday. “There are tracks every time it's icy that go across into the opposite ditch.”
Hand said the intersection has had one accident in the last five years.
Most people don't consider such a slide as an accident and don't report it, Bessette said at the meeting.
Bessette said she has not slid into the ditch but has received phone calls from neighbors who say the curve is dangerous.
“I want it safer in case someone does slide,” Bessette said.
Hand said the solution is to flatten the slopes with the addition of gravel to lessen the grade on the ditch. He said he has not witnessed someone sliding into the ditch, but knows it is steep.
The process might need the adjacent landowner's permission, Hand said.
Bessette said the commission will contact the landowner.
