Mountain road contract awarded for $9.7 million

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

The Daily Inter Lake

A $9.7 million contract for the reconstruction of Big Mountain Road was awarded to a Washington company Monday by the Montana Transportation Commission.

MA Deatley of Clarkston, Wash., was the lowest of four bidders on the 2.5-mile project. Bids ranged from $9.7 million to $12.6 million.

A decade ago, the estimated cost of the reconstruction was closer to $2 million.

Big Mountain Road is currently about 20 feet wide with two 10-foot travel lanes. Plans call for it to be widened substantially, with two 12-foot lanes and 8-foot shoulders.

The project will begin near Ptarmigan Village, at milepost 4.1, and extend up the mountain to milepost 6.5. The right of way was cleared earlier this year; actual road construction is slated to begin next spring.

The Big Mountain contract was one of 11 contracts worth almost $54 million that were awarded by Transportation Commission this week.

Other projects in this area include a $109,000 contract for safety improvements near the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 35, awarded to JTL Group of Kalispell, and a $3.8 million contract for five miles of safety improvements along U.S. 2 southwest of East Glacier, which was awarded to Riverside Contracting of Missoula.