Work continues on Highway 2 upgrade

Work continues on Highway 2 upgrade

Detour set for installation of new culvert

Tim Leeds

Dirt work is continuing on U.S. Highway 2 east of Havre, with the first detour needed for the project expected this week.

A detour will allow the installation of a culvert east of the landfill, with the detour expected to be used for one day, the Montana Department of Transportation said in a weekly update e-mailed to the Havre Daily News.

The project is the first phase resulting from a study earlier this decade on upgrading the highway between Havre and Fort Belknap.

That study returned a decision to upgrade the highway to an improved two-lane configuration, with wider traffic lanes and shoulders and intermittent passing and turning lanes.

The results were a disappointment to advocates of widening Highway 2 to four lanes across the state, as per a bill passed by the 2001 Legislature. The advocates hoped the Havre to Fort Belknap section would be the first widened to four lanes.

Instead, the first of those projects will widen the highway from the North Dakota border west, with work under way to do that from the border to Culbertson.

The work on this, the first phase of the project, starts just east of Havre by the hill known locally as Pork Chop Hill. It extends 7 miles, just east of the current landfill.

Part of this project includes work on an approach connecting the highway to the road to the new landfill being constructed just east of Havre.

That road now is in question as a property owner has sued the Hill County government, saying it does not have right of way to use the road proposed as access to the landfill from the north.

The highway reconstruction project was awarded to SK Construction out of Missoula at a price of just less than $12 million. The main work began in early August.

Work on the second phase of the project, connecting Havre to the improved two-lane, using mostly a four-lane configuration in that phase, is in the planning stages and may go out to bid in 2012.

The culvert was intended to be installed last week, but rain has delayed the work, MDT said in its update.

While the detour is expected to last only one day, speed will be reduced in the section 24-hours a day until the new paving is installed and set over the new culvert.

Flaggers will be in place to direct traffic during the work, with delays expected to be less than five minutes.

Other work is progressing, MDT reports, including work on excavation and embankment construction on the south side of the road. Intermittent 35 mph zones are in place at the areas of excavation.

Work also is continuing on a wildlife crossing and improved drainage near the east end of the project.

The dirt work will conclude this fall, with the project expected to be completed next summer.

Dirt work is continuing on U.S. Highway 2 east of Havre, with the first detour needed for the project expected this week.

A detour will allow the installation of a culvert east of the landfill, with the detour expected to be used for one day, the Montana Department of Transportation said in a weekly update e-mailed to the Havre Daily News.

The project is the first phase resulting from a study earlier this decade on upgrading the highway between Havre and Fort Belknap.

That study returned a decision to upgrade the highway to an improved two-lane configuration, with wider traffic lanes and shoulders and intermittent passing and turning lanes.

The results were a disappointment to advocates of widening Highway 2 to four lanes across the state, as per a bill passed by the 2001 Legislature. The advocates hoped the Havre to Fort Belknap section would be the first widened to four lanes.

Instead, the first of those projects will widen the highway from the North Dakota border west, with work under way to do that from the border to Culbertson.

The work on this, the first phase of the project, starts just east of Havre by the hill known locally as Pork Chop Hill. It extends 7 miles, just east of the current landfill.

Part of this project includes work on an approach connecting the highway to the road to the new landfill being constructed just east of Havre.

That road now is in question as a property owner has sued the Hill County government, saying it does not have right of way to use the road proposed as access to the landfill from the north.

The highway reconstruction project was awarded to SK Construction out of Missoula at a price of just less than $12 million. The main work began in early August.

Work on the second phase of the project, connecting Havre to the improved two-lane, using mostly a four-lane configuration in that phase, is in the planning stages and may go out to bid in 2012.

The culvert was intended to be installed last week, but rain has delayed the work, MDT said in its update.

While the detour is expected to last only one day, speed will be reduced in the section 24-hours a day until the new paving is installed and set over the new culvert.

Flaggers will be in place to direct traffic during the work, with delays expected to be less than five minutes.

Other work is progressing, MDT reports, including work on excavation and embankment construction on the south side of the road. Intermittent 35 mph zones are in place at the areas of excavation.

Work also is continuing on a wildlife crossing and improved drainage near the east end of the project.

The dirt work will conclude this fall, with the project expected to be completed next summer.