The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

In late June the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) issued a notice describing its plans to “repair/replace up to 37 culverts spanning about 24 miles of U.S Highway 2 east of Chinook in Blaine County.” The area of roadway involved begins at mile marker 404.0, just east of Chinook, and extends for 23.9 miles to marker 427.9, near the Milk River Bridge north of Fort Belknap.

Greg Jergeson, a commissioner on the Montana Transportation Commission representing District 3 (an area from Phillips to Glacier County and south, including Great Falls and Helena), said, “Many of the culverts on Highway 2 between Chinook and Fort Belknap are reaching the end of their useful life.” He explained, “The useful life of metal culverts along this area of roadway are affected by the soil acidity and alkali conditions of water running through them. In certain areas the old, round-style culverts will be replaced with flat-bottomed culverts. The flat-bottomed culverts have a longer life, especially where there is a lot of running water.” Conservation folks say the flat-bottomed culverts allow easier movement for fish, as well.

Jergeson explained how the stretch of roadway was chosen for the culvert replacements. “Where there is no major construction in the foreseeable future,” he said, “MDT will make permanent improvements to the culverts.” Both Jergeson and Steve Prinzing, MDT Great Falls District Preconstruction engineer, mentioned a seven mile stretch of Highway 2, running east from Zurich, that is ‘in the queue’ for major replacement. Normally the culvert replacements would be made as a part of a major construction project.

Prinzing said, “The project east of Zurich has been approved but no letting date (when a contract for the work would go out for bid) has been assigned.” The earliest dates for that project would likely be 2022 or ’23. With that much time before a major replacement could happen, the permanent upgrades to the culverts makes sense rather than wait.

Asked how travel on that section of Highway 2 during the replacement of the culverts, Prinzing said, “Many times we can do the replacement one lane at a time. We try to avoid by-passes. By-passes cannot be avoided where active water is involved and has to be moved to do work on culverts. Those situations will be of short duration, usually a matter of days rather than weeks.” He added, “We really don’t expect much impact on traffic while the work is being done.”

Work is also scheduled at times to avoid interrupting irrigation water. Prinzing explained, “We try to replace culverts that will affect irrigation before May 15 or later in September.” We will work around those irrigation ditches and culverts as much as we can.

Public comment sought

As with most MDT road projects, this one has a process for the public to comment about the proposed work. Lori Ryan, MDT Public Information Officer, said of the public comment opportunity, “It’s a way for the public to express opinions and ask questions about an upcoming highway project.” Opinions submitted are considered during planning of the work and submitted questions from the public will be answered directly by an MDT representative.

For more information about the proposed culvert work along Highway 2, contact Great Falls District Preconstruction Engineer Steve Prinzing, at 406-545-5899, or Great Falls District Project Engineer Christie McOmber at 460454-5900. Submit written comments to Montana Department of Transportation, Great Falls Office, P.O. Box 1359, great Falls, MT 59403-1359. For online comments use this address: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml. When submitting comments, refer to project UPN 9220000.