Meetings continue on Bad Rock Canyon rebuild

Discussion about how to rebuild U.S. 2 through Bad Rock Canyon is the focus of a third informational meeting planned Tuesday night in Hungry Horse.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the U.S. Forest Service Hungry Horse Ranger District Office, 10 Hungry Horse Drive. The Montana Department of Transportation has been leading the corridor planning study meetings. Earlier meetings were held in May 2011 and in April this year.

The state earlier this month released a corridor planning study for the future reconstruction of 2.4 miles of U.S. 2 from east of Columbia Heights through the eastern edge of Hungry Horse. The study evaluated existing and projected conditions, identified corridor needs and objectives and recommended options to improve conditions within the Bad Rock Canyon corridor.

Reconstruction of the U.S. 2 corridor involves construction challenges due to the proximity of the Flathead River, rock outcroppings and buried utilities. Road work also would impact sensitive environmental and cultural resources in the corridor, the study said.

It outlines six proposed alignments, ranging from spot improvements on the existing highway to relocating the highway corridor to the south and building it as a four-lane road with a four-lane bridge replacing the existing South Fork Flathead River bridge. All but two of the proposed alignments — improvements to the existing highway and a rebuild of the existing highway — have been eliminated from further consideration.

Spot improvements would cost up to $4.5 million, with reconstruction of the South Fork bridge estimated at anywhere from $9.7 million to $24 million.

Rebuilding the highway corridor would cost from $36 million to $171 million.

The project is dependent on funding availability and highway system priorities. Some of the improvements, such as the South Fork bridge rebuild, could be six to 10 years out, while a full reconstruction of the Bad Rock corridor would be 11 to 20 years away.

The state tentatively has identified funding through its bridge program for replacement of the South Fork bridge, but there is currently no funding available for full roadway reconstruction. Federal funding for the Missoula district, which includes the Bad Rock corridor, is committed through 2023.

Rebuilding the U.S. 2 corridor through Bad Rock Canyon has been an ongoing discussion for more than two decades. In 1995 a final environmental impact statement was completed for 4.5 miles of U.S. 2. A portion of the project in the Columbia Heights area was completed in 2004.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.