Road work ahead on two major highways

Drivers will need extra time and patience this summer as they navigate roads in the Flathead Valley.

Two of the key reconstruction projects are on major highways on the county’s west side that funnel traffic in and out of Kalispell and Whitefish.

Work is underway on the Montana Department of Transportation’s Kalispell West project, a $5.2 million rebuild of U.S. 2 West that includes two bridge replacements. LHC is the general contractor for the project.

Just over one mile of U.S. 2 will be rebuilt to 56 feet, with two 12-foot travel lanes, a broader shoulder and a turn lane, said Bob Vosen, district construction engineer for the Missoula District.

The construction zone — between mile markers 113 and 115 — is posted at 35 mph and drivers should expect flaggers to direct traffic. Traffic will be reduced to one lane at various intervals during the construction, Vosen said.

“There are two bridges over Ashley Creek that are a half-mile apart. We’ll be replacing both of those,” Vosen said.

The bridge work will affect users of the Great Northern Historical Trail for bicyclists and pedestrians. Vosen said members of the trail group attended a pre-construction meeting last week.

The trail bridge farthest east will be removed because the footprint of that new roadway bridge is much wider, “so we’ll move the pedestrian trail onto the new highway bridge,” Vosen said.

“What that means is that for a good portion of the summer there won’t be [trail] access across Ashley Creek on the eastern bridge,” he said. “The trail will end at the highway construction instead of going all the way to Smith Lake.”

The other major summer project affecting westside traffic is the $10.3 million rebuild of U.S. 93 from Karrow Avenue to Mountainside Drive in the Lion Mountain area. Schellinger Construction is the general contractor.

It’s the second phase of U.S. 93 reconstruction in that area. Road work should begin next week, Vosen said.

A third phase of the Whitefish West project for U.S. 93 will be completed west to mile marker 133 in the Spencer Lake area within the next couple of years.

Traffic in Whitefish also is being impacted this summer by the reconstruction of East Second Street from Larch Avenue to Edgewood Drive. Revenue from Whitefish’s 2 percent resort tax is paying for the $2 million rebuild that will continue into the fall; Knife River is the general contractor.

Travel along East Second from Armory Road to Dodger Lane is limited to local one-way traffic only.

Pedestrians and bicyclists are required to use another route around the East Second Street construction zone, according to an advisory from Whitefish City Hall.

The Hugh Rogers Dog Park, Dave Olseth Memorial Skate Park and Armory Park complex will remain open during the course of the East Second rebuild.

Other road projects that will impact traffic include a storm-drain project later this summer on U.S. 2 through Evergreen and overlay work on First Avenue East and First Avenue West in Kalispell.

Vosen said there is one contractor for the First Avenue projects, which “doesn’t preclude [crews] from working on both avenues at the same time.

“Likely they’ll chip one one day and the other the next,” he said.

Construction is currently underway on Three Mile Drive near Kalispell where a bridge is being built over the future route of the U.S. 93 bypass. A detour is in place, so “traffic is not being impacted a whole lot,” Vosen said.

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