Two of five highway improvements are now completed

The Lohman East and West project on US 2 is complete per the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and Schellinger Construction. The project ran basically over ten miles from the Hill/Blaine County line to the west city limits of Chinook. Most construction work was concluded several weeks ago with painting crews finishing the final roadway striping last week.

Initial dirt work on the $27 million project began two years ago in the late fall. Construction of four new bridges, several passing and turning lanes, wider shoulders adjacent to the roadway and flatter side slopes from the roadway began in the spring of 2020 with completion this fall.

The second project involved a 24 mile stretch of US 2 from the east edge Chinook to east of Harlem. This project involved repairing, lining or replacing more than 20 deteriorating culverts along the stretch. The culvert work will allow more efficient completion of roadway expansion and shoulder improvements once the engineering work is done and bids for the work let. The culvert project began in early March of this year and was completed in about three months. The recent culvert upgrade will allow for quicker completion of planned roadway work in the next three phases of the work on US 2 east from Chinook to Harlem.

Three projects to be started within the

next five years

The following three projects will involve creating a modern, 40-foot top roadway consisting of two 12-foot road lanes and two 8-foot paved shoulder lanes on US 2 from the east side of Chinook to east of Harlem. Flattening of the side slopes will improve safety and some turn lanes may be added. Several new bridges are included in the three phases. Plans are to have the engineering work completed on the three phases and bids let within the next five years. The order in which work will start on these three phases may vary.

Chinook East project is a six mile rehabilitation of US 2 beginning at Illinois Street on the East Side of Chinook and ending at the Battle Creek Bridge. In addition to widening the roadway, adding paved shoulders and flattening the side slopes, there will be ten bridges and several drainage/irrigation facilities replaced.

Zurich East/West includes seven miles of roadway reconstruction with four bridges involved. This project begins at the Battle Creek Bridge (six miles east of Chinook) and ends seven miles west of Harlem. Some parts of the roadway may be shifted south to minimize impacts of widening the roadway on the railroad that runs along the north side of the roadway in the area.

The third project is East Zurich where reconstructing the roadway will begin at Eight Mile Road (two miles east of Zurich) and end just west of Harlem. This is an area where the railroad tracks generally run parallel and north of US 2 and the Harlem Canal, an irrigation facility, runs parallel and south of the highway. Some shifting of the highway may also be necessary on this project.

During the construction phase of these three projects travelers should expect one-lane traffic, with flaggers, during regular daylight work hours and both lanes open during nights and weekends. MDT's plans during construction are to accommodate normal access to businesses and homes along the routes, ensure that wide loads can pass through safely and that regular mail delivery and bus routes during school will not be adversely affected.