93 West road construction ahead of schedule

Reconstruction work on West Second Street continues to move farther west and is running ahead of schedule, according to LHC’s construction manager for the project.

“We’re progressing nicely,” Jay McMillan, of LHC, said. “We’re back to being about two weeks ahead of schedule.”

Phase I of the project includes work from Lupfer Avenue to Karrow Avenue and began in April. The Montana Department of Transportation project will revamp the west entrance to town.

As of Monday, much of the work on the east side of the river is finished and demolition of the old bridge is complete.

“We’re about 90 percent compete on the east side with utilities, the road and landscaping,” McMillan said.

Added tourist traffic through the area has made things more difficult, but McMillan said as work moves farther west it should be easier to keep delays at a minimum.

“We trying to keep to 6- to 8-minute delays,” he said. “There should be less one-lane traffic as we move west.”

The temporary bridge across the Whitefish River has been alternating between two-lane and one-lane traffic. This will continue as work to install new utilities across the river goes forward.

McMillan expects the utility installation at the bridge to be completed by mid-August, which should then allow for a more steady traffic flow.

LHC’s contract allows work through Nov. 15, but the company expects to wrap up this year’s work before that date.

The new bridge under construction will be a 138-foot single-span steel girder bridge with vertical abutments and riprap aprons.

The second phase of reconstruction in 2014 will run from Karrow to Mountainside Drive. The final phase goes to milepost 133 west of Twin Bridges Road, with work proposed to begin in 2015.

West Second street was constructed in 1936 and isn’t designed to handle current traffic volumes which estimates show is about 12,200 vehicle trips on the roadway each day.