The Montana Department of Transportation announced that it will be constructing passing lanes on Highway 16 at the current construction site between the 19 mile marker and the 25 mile marker. District Administrator Shane Mintz said the change order was authorized this week and that the contractor was proceeding with the work immediately. At a cost of $2.3 million it is a substantial upgrade to the project. “Although we don’t typically initiate change orders of this size,” Mintz said, “the traffic conditions on Highway 16 have changed dramatically since the initial bidding and the volume and type of vehicles using the roadway justify the change order”. The change will consist of adding an additional travel lane for the north bound traffic and an additional lane for the south bound traffic effectively creating four travel lanes for a length of approximately 1.6 miles. This will allow passenger cars which have been accumulating behind slower moving traffic for several miles, to pass safely. The entire job, including chip seal of the full length, should be completed by September.
Wickens Construction, from Lewistown, Montana is the General contractor on the site. They are a family owned business in operation since 1984. Casey Durbin, co-owner, is managing this particular project. Durbin stated ”No one is in a better position than us to recognize the increased traffic. It impacts every aspect of the construction process from maintaining the gravel portions of the project, to simply providing safe travel to the public with the pilot cars.”
The change order has been under consideration and negotiations for a couple of months now. “This is not something that can be done without giving careful consideration to the impact on the district’s budget, and gathering the hard data on the actual traffic flow,” Mintz said. “We have a finite amount of resources to spend throughout the district each year, and like any other budget, priorities have to be established.” The data has shown that not only has the volume of traffic increased, but anywhere from 20-35 percent of the volume is truck traffic. The state average is roughly 6 percent. This requires upgrades to the road base as well and an earlier change order in the amount of $1.6 million was awarded to Wickens to accommodate the heavier traffic. The upgrade to the base will allow longer use of the roadway before additional maintenance is required. This increases the total contract to approximately $10.9 million of which about $9.5 million was provided by federal transportation funds.
Highway 16 is located in what MDT has established as District 4. Like many of the political subdivisions in Eastern Montana, District 4 is very large and encompasses an area from the Canadian border to the Wyoming border, extending westerly on the Hi-line to Dodson and southerly to Lame Deer. The district has a construction budget of $40 million for fiscal year 2012. That includes about $35 million of federal highway funds.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, HD 38, has been working closely with MDT to address the impacts to Eastern Montana due to the increased oilfield activity. “This is a great example of what effective government should do,” Rosendale said. “The conditions in this area have changed and the ongoing project gave MDT the opportunity to make a substantial improvement. If this had been proposed as a new or separate project, it would typically take 3 years for planning and construction with added costs. It could not have taken place without the total cooperation of MDT and Wickens.”
MDT is currently conducting a corridor study of Highway 16 from Glendive to Sidney and Highway 200 from Sidney to Fairview. Several public meetings have already taken place and additional traffic data is being collected. Typically the studies take 12 months to complete, however, in recognition of the rapidly changing conditions, MDT has committed to finishing the study within 6 months. The data will allow them to identify other areas of need and specific locations where traffic control measures should be taken. After the data is collected additional meetings will be held and the public is urged to attend and participate in the planning process.
“Adequate investment in our infrastructure is vital to our region,” said Rosendale. “We must have safe travel for our citizens and existing agricultural industry. Our local farmers have to use these same roads to transport their products and equipment, and without adequate roads it can’t be done safely or efficiently.”
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