State recommends lower speed limit on Montana 82
The Montana Department of Transportation is recommending that the speed limit on Montana 82 be reduced to 60 mph. The speed limit on the highway now is 70 mph.
The highway parallels the north end of Flathead Lake from its intersection with U.S. 93 near Somers heading east to the intersection of Montana 35 just north of Bigfork.
Flathead County in July 2021 requested a speed study be performed for the highway out of concern for the number of driveways and intersections that access the highway. A representative with MDT reviewed the results of the study with county commissioners on Monday, requesting any comments on the recommendation be sent to MDT.
The commissioners did not vote on the matter, but Commissioner Randy Brodehl did ask about the possibility of placing signs on the highway notifying drivers of the change if it occurs.
“It would be very educational and beneficial for people to know we’ve changed the speed,” Brodehl said. “With 8,000 people driving that per day, we need to let them know.”
The study looked at the traffic volume, crash history, speed of vehicle and design of the road in making a recommendation for the change.
The average annual traffic volume for 2020 for the highway was about 8,000 vehicles. Over the past five years, MDT notes there has been a 15% increase in traffic volumes west of Lower Valley Road and a 34% increase east of Lower Valley Road on the highway.
The study looked at the crash history for the highway between 2018 and 2020 finding a total of 115 crashes were reported. Crashes involving wild animals were the most common at 53 followed by rear-end crashes at 34.
Most crashes occurred during daylight hours and a total of 32 were intersection related. The primary contributing circumstance of the crashes were wild animals followed by careless driving.
During the same period, the Montana Highway Patrol made 81 traffic stops and issued 91 citations. About 31% of the citations involved speeding and the average speeding citation was for 12 mph over the posted speed limit.
Typical sections of the road do not adhere to current design recommendations, MDT notes. Travel lanes should be 12 feet wide with 8-foot shoulders, but the shoulders of the road are primarily 4 feet wide for much of the road. In addition, there are no shoulders and travel lanes are reduced to 10-feet when crossing the Flathead River.
A review of the speed samples for the road, shows that drivers along the highway are on average already traveling 5 mph below the posted speed limit.
The 60 mph speed limit is supported after “accounting for the travel lane reduction and lack of shoulder around the Flathead River crossing and an almost elevated crash rate for the roadway,” MDT notes.
MDT’s recommendation on the speed limit, along with any comments from the county, will be presented to the Montana Transportation Commission for action.
Highway 82 was constructed in the 1950s and the last improvements to the road occurred in 2017 with a pavement preservation project.