Bypass job starts Oct. 12

LHC Inc. is ready to get rolling next month on the final sections of U.S. 93 Alternate Route on the west side of Kalispell.

On Tuesday, the Montana Transportation Commission awarded LHC the contract for the U.S. 93 bypass project.

Work is expected to begin Oct. 12.

LHC, which bid $33.8 million on the project, will compile a work schedule and list of material suppliers before a pre-construction meeting with the Montana Department of Transportation. A date has not yet been set for the conference, but is expected to be done in the next month.

“This large of a project takes a long time to put everything together,” said Don Brummel, project manager at LHC. “Not only with the schedule but with the process and logical succession.”

The last 4.5 miles of the north section of the bypass will connect U.S. 2 and Old Reserve Drive. The bypass section south of U.S. 2 has been completed for years; the northernmost section of the bypass was completed in late 2013.  

The north half of the bypass will be two lanes, Brummel said, just like the southern stretch.

A large interchange bridge will be built over U.S. 2 and Two Mile Drive will be bridged over the bypass. Three Mile Drive already has been rebuilt with a bridge over the bypass route; Four Mile Drive will have a bridge above the bypass and a full interchange bridge will be constructed over Old Reserve Drive.

The contract includes the extension of Four Mile Drive from the Kidsports Complex to Stillwater Road.

Brummel said the project will employ more than 150 people when construction reaches its full pace.

“The majority of the project should be complete by the end of the work season in 2016,” Brummel said.

Initial work beginning Oct. 12 will involve bridge construction and dirt moving near U.S. 2 and Old Reserve Drive.

LHC and its subcontractors will approach the road project from both north and south ends, eventually completing the bypass in the middle. Construction is planned to run through the winter, Brummel said.

Brummel said LHC will soon mobilize heavy equipment to the work sites. He said people can expect to see an increase in truck traffic near the construction areas next summer, with 20 or more hauling units a day bringing materials to the project.

Sletten Construction Co. of Great Falls will work with LHC on the project. Stillwater Electric will perform the electric work, White Resources of Butte and Glacier Precast Concrete of Kalispell will provide materials.

Ed Toavs, district administrator at the Montana Department of Transportation, said it’s great to see the project moving forward.

“This project will create better traffic movement and more dispersion of traffic,” Toavs said. “That intersection at Grandview Drive and Four Mile Drive is up to 35,000 cars a day — that’s pretty high for Montana.”

Toavs said in July it’s not uncommon to see 40,000 to 42,000 vehicles a day at that busy U.S. 93 intersection, a traffic quantity as high as any other intersection in Western Montana.

Brummel said LHC plans to open a continuous community outreach program to keep the public involved in the process. The Montana Department and LHC are both planning to make monthly updates to the Flathead County commissioners once the project has broken ground.

LHC is now looking to hire on more operators, laborers and truck drivers as the project work date approaches.

“It’s going to be a collaborative effort by all parties,” Brummel said. “As a team, we’ll be ready to break ground on Oct. 12 when we get the notice to proceed.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.