Work starts this week on Foy's Lake interchange rebuild

It won’t be long before one of Kalispell’s busiest interchanges on the U.S. 93 bypass takes on a whole new look.

The Montana Department of Transportation starts work this week on a project to reconfigure the intersection between Foy’s Lake Road and the U.S. 93 Alternate Route. The project team expects the new traffic pattern to be in use by November.

“Hopefully November this year, you’ll be driving on a whole new interchange out there,” said Design Manager Don Sterna, of KLJ Engineering, during a virtual open house for the project on Thursday.

KLJ Engineering has teamed up with LHC Inc. as the design-build team for the construction effort. By bundling contractors, this streamlined process is expected to expedite the project timeline.

That’s not only good news for drivers dreading delays on the affected roadways; it should also help the project team ensure they’re able to utilize $12.7 million in federal BUILD grant funding for the project. The funds, secured by the city of Kalispell, have only a short window to be utilized before they could become unavailable.

The BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant is expected to cover most of the $14.7 million in anticipated expenses for the project.

In just a few months, the project team plans on completely reconfiguring the Foy’s Lake Road intersection.

In place of the existing roundabout, a four-lane highway overpass will be constructed for the U.S. 93 bypass. Highway traffic will flow uninterrupted from north to south.

On Foy’s Lake Road, meanwhile, two teardrop-shaped roundabouts will be installed for the ramps onto and off of the highway.

The final design is expected to resemble the interchange where the bypass intersects with U.S. 2 farther north, and it will be nearly identical to the Van Buren Interchange on the east side of Missoula.

“We’ve found that it is extremely functional,” MDT District Administrator Bob Vosen said of the Missoula model for the new interchange. “It’s greatly reduced congestion.”

Functionality, traffic flow, maintenance costs and primarily safety were all factors in the team’s decision to install two new roundabouts in Kalispell.

Becca MacLean, the public relations account executive on the project, listed numerous safety benefits that have been observed by installing roundabouts.

Drivers slow to about 15 to 20 miles per hour to travel through them, MacLean said, and the frequency and severity of vehicle collisions are greatly reduced because traffic is all flowing in the same direction and motorists have more time to react to one another than they might at a higher-speed signalized intersection.

Flathead Valley drivers will get to see these impacts for themselves in less than a year.

JIM MITCHELL with LHC outlined the construction timeline and the traffic impacts that can be expected with the project throughout the next few months.

In general, Mitchell said, construction will get off to a slow start in March and be mostly completed by November, although a few outstanding tasks likely will be wrapped up in spring and summer 2022.

The work will be done in phases, starting on the east side of the intersection and gradually moving west.

Construction largely will take place during daylight hours on weekdays, but Mitchell* warned there will be occasional night and weekend work.

“As with any construction project, we’re going to have some delays and we’re going to have some interruptions in traffic,” Mitchell said candidly. “There will be a little bit more noise in the area from the construction.”

Traffic interruptions will mostly be limited to single-lane closures on Foy’s Lake Road during weekday work hours, he said. He advised commuters who regularly travel through the intersection to budget 15 extra minutes during construction.

For a short period, the roadways may be completely closed in order to install the overhead beams for the highway overpass. Mitchell didn’t specify when that work will take place, or for how long roads could be totally shut down.

To keep the community up to date with the progress, there will be weekly updates via email and on the project webpage. Additionally, there will be weekly public Zoom meetings, starting March 4, at 10 a.m. every Thursday for the duration of the work.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.