Work to begin on N. Meridian Road
The Montana Department of Transportation will begin work to smooth and preserve North Meridian Road in Kalispell beginning Sunday, Sept. 16.
Work will take place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Work will not occur during daytime hours.
Crews will maintain two-lane traffic for the vast majority of the project. Traffic may be reduced to a single lane near the work site or along narrow points in the roadway. In that case, flaggers would be on hand to guide drivers safely through the area.
Traffic may be channeled around specific points in the road later in the project so concrete work can be completed, but two-lane traffic will be maintained.
The state is still finalizing the traffic management plan for this project, so it could change.
Residents along the project should expect some noise at night.
“With so much traffic on North Meridian, working during the day would have meant delaying or rerouting a huge number of people,” said Bob Vosen, district construction engineer for the Montana Department of Transportation’s Missoula District. “We opted to work at night to impact as few folks as possible. We know it’s not the ideal situation for those who live near Meridian and we’ll do everything we can to mitigate noise impacts where possible. Crews will be working hard to finish work as quickly as possible.”
Crews will repair uneven areas, lower manholes and seal cracks along the roadway from the intersection of West Idaho Street and Sunset Boulevard. Paving and striping is slated to follow later this month.
LHC Construction of Kalispell is expected to conclude the first phase of construction in mid-October, weather permitting, and will return in the spring of 2019 for chip-sealing to complete the project.
This type of pavement preservation helps improve the condition of the road while increasing its longevity at a fraction of the cost of more intensive rehabilitative efforts.
The finished road will also be topped with a fog seal to reduce the amount of flying rock on North Meridian and to improve the visibility of pavement markings. Fog seal is a specially formulated oil that is sprayed over an existing surface to protect and extend the life of the roadway.
The upgrades to North Meridian Road are part the Kalispell Urban Project, a larger effort to update and preserve numerous roads in central Kalispell. Additional pavement preservation work under this umbrella is slated to start in 2019.
These projects include:
- East Center Street: A chip seal on a 0.1-mile stretch of road, which will also include a fog seal and upgraded signs and pavement markings.
- Seventh Street West: A chip seal pavement improvement along a 0.6- mile section of road with Americans with Disabilities Act ramp upgrades and new manholes, signing and pavement markings.
- Seventh Avenue West: A chip seal on a 0.8-mile stretch, plus a fog seal and new pavement markings.
- East Evergreen Drive: A chip and fog seal along a 1 mile-section, plus a fog seal on the shared use path and new pavement markings.
To sign up for project updates or request more information about construction on North Meridian Road, call the Montana Department of Transportation hotline at 406-207-4484 or email Mackenzie@bigskypublicrelations.com.