By Ron VandenBoom
Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, R-Glasgow, will visit Havre on Friday,
Feb. 23, to explain, and answer questions about, his
proposed four-lane highway bill that recently passed through
the Montana Senate and was sent to the House of
Representatives.
The meeting, sponsored by the North Central Montana
Pachyderm Club, will be at 7 p.m. in the Holiday Village
Shopping Center Community Center and the public is invited
and encouraged to attend.
SB-3 would provide for the creation of a four-lane highway
that would follow Highway 2 for more than 600 miles from the
North Dakota border to Idaho.
Kitzenberg has touted the idea of a four-lane highway as an
economic necessity for the Hi-Line and those communities
that he has said have been neglected by the rest of the
state.
The idea of an improved road across the Hi-Line has met
with popular support from business leaders and the
agricultural community from the area, but has received less
than favorable reviews from other parts of the state that
see themselves possibly loosing transportation funds needed
for their own highway projects.
Construction of the highway is expected to cost about $1.2
billion over 20 years.
No funding of the project was included in SB-3 a
shortfall that has caused some to speculate that the bill
has no teeth and is little more than a resolution.
Kitzenberg is expected to explain what is next for SB-3 and
how passage of the bill will help the Hi-Line.
Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Big
Sandy, Rep. Merlin Wolery, R-Rudyard, and Rep. John
Musgrove, D-Havre, are expected to attend the meeting and
will also be available to answer questions.
There is no charge for the meeting and the public is
invited a
