MDOT launches Highway Watch Program

The Montana Department of Transportation unveiled a Highway Watch Program last week for areas of concern on both Montana Highway 35 and U.S. Highway 93 near Flathead Lake.

The program, which is the first of its kind in the state, allows concerned residents to call a toll-free number, 1-877-684-9935, and report unsafe driving to the department.

This information will then be used to propose further solutions to perceived problems on the highways, MDOT Director Jim Lynch said. For emergencies, officials are urging residents to still call 911.

"We need to figure out what we need to do to make it safe," Lynch said. "No one has the expectation of putting their family behind the wheel and not getting home at night."

The program, which Lynch said is fashioned after the Neighborhood Watch Program, was announced in front of a new sign in Bigfork with representatives from MDOT, the trucking industry, Montana Highway Patrol and the local community. The stretches of roadway between Bigfork and Polson on Highway 35 and Somers and Polson on Highway 93 are the target of this program, which is advertised through signs revealed last week at their four entrances.

Safety on these sections of highway has been a topic of concern in a bout of public meetings nearly two years after a series of large truck accidents occurred on Highway 35, including an April 2008 accident where a gas tanker crash spilled 60,000 gallons of fuel onto properties lining Highway 35 resulting in millions of dollars in cleanup.

The idea of the Highway Watch Program was proposed by the trucking industry at a November public meeting in Somers to allow individuals from the area to keep an eye on behavior and then meet with truckers, MDOT, and law enforcement.

"Safety has always been a primary goal for the trucking industry," said Barry "Spook" Stang, executive vice president of Motor Carriers of Montana. "It's been a long-standing problem (on Highway 35 and 93)."

It goes both ways – truckers will also be able to call in to the toll-free number and report behavior of their peers and cars they see.

The trucking industry is also supplying private vehicles for monitoring and is inviting residents to ride along. These will be on each of the highways once a week for the next six months to develop data on traffic behaviors, Lynch said.

A number of community members from the highways have been working with MDOT and representatives of the trucking industry on an advisory committee to take ideas and comments from public meetings and studies and discuss what can be done. Information from the Highway Watch Program will be discussed monthly with this group, Lynch said.

Highway 35 resident Harry Hyatt, who is a member of this group, said an interest in safety drew him to get involved.

"We need something," Hyatt said. "I hope this works and works well."

When drivers call in, they can choose whether to remain anonymous or share their contact information. They'll be asked about what was seen – whether it was a vehicle following too closely, crossing on a double yellow or another action seen as unsafe – as well as where it happened, what time and what type of vehicle was involved.

The total cost of the signage was $1,200 and came out of MDOT's maintenance budget. Since the phone number will be directed through its 511 program, no additional employees or work hours will be required at this point, Lynch said.

Calls will be live between normal business hours on weekdays, but the rest of the time motorists will be able to leave messages. Unsafe driving can also be reported through an online submission form at www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/hwy35/form.shtml.