S. Fork bridge work should start next spring
Traffic goes over the U.S. Highway 2 South Fork of the Flathead River bridge on Monday. The bridge is slated for replacement.
Work on a new bridge across the South Fork of the Flathead should begin late next spring, Ed Toavs, district administrator of the Montana Department of Transportation said last week.
The new bridge will be built just west of the old bridge. The approximately $18 million project will take two seasons to complete and should be done by late 2018 or early 2019.
Initially, there should be no traffic delays as the old bridge will be used while the new bridge is under construction.
The project will bid in March, Toavs said. The new bridge will have two lanes and a 10-foot walkway. The bridge will be designed so it could be expanded to four lanes in the future.
As for rebuilding the highway through Bad Rock Canyon, there still is no firm timetable.
The Department is surveying the area and trying to complete a “rough alignment” to see what size highway will fit through the canyon. Toavs said they are limited because the rock walls of the canyon are fractured. They also hold cultural significance for Native Americans. Because of that, previous plans have called for a road that would extend out over the river — at least partially.
The main gas line that serves the Flathead Valley also runs under the highway, which complicates matters, Toavs noted.
In another local road project, work slated for Highway 206 has been delayed until at least 2019. The Department wants to flatten the highway and put in four-foot shoulders and end slopes on it. Right now, the highway has a deep borrow pit on either side and sees numerous accidents.
The project cost, however, is about $9 million and funding isn’t currently available. The state hopes to get federal access land monies to partially fund the work.