There may be quite a bit of dust in the air at this year's Northwest Montana Fair.

But it will only be the usual dust generated by herds of animals and fairgoers - not from Meridian Road.

In early August, Meridian Road will receive its first layer of asphalt from Two Mile Drive to U.S. 2 and from Three Mile Drive to U.S. 93. Two lanes between Two Mile and Three Mile also may be paved before fair week (Aug. 12-20), said Sam Weyers, project manager for Nelcon, the general contractor for the Meridian reconstruction project.

Paving the center section of the road, however, will depend on whether the curb and gutter work along that section is finished.

Paving the entire road at once creates the smoothest finished product and is more cost-effective than paving in sections. This is why LHC, the company contracted to lay the asphalt, originally planned to pave only at the very end of the project. Paving had been scheduled to begin by Nov. 10.

Many people were concerned about the dust that 60,000 people would create during the fair if Meridian was still gravel.

In response to that concern and to better serve Meridian businesses and the traveling public, the Montana Department of Transportation paid LHC to pave the area in front of the fairgrounds earlier than planned - beginning Aug. 7 at the latest, said Gary Kalberg, state district construction engineer.

When it sought the paving contract, LHC bid $22,000 for each time it would have to come in and pave. Normally, the state would only pay for one such mobilization, Kalberg said, but the state agreed to pay for an extra one to get the job done before the fair.

"If I had it to do over again, I would have reworded the contract to make it a requirement," he said.

Before LHC can pave the road, curbs and sidewalks must be finished. Prior to the new agreement with LHC, this work was slated to begin July 31. Instead, it began last week.

All work in front of the fairgrounds will cease during fair week. Most likely, Nelcon won't work on any part of the road during that time. With thousands of people in the area over the course of five days, workers couldn't accomplish much, Weyers said.

Once the fair is over, they still have a lot of work to do, he said, including final paving, striping and putting in permanent signs and mailboxes.

Nelcon's contract stipulates the company will have the road finished by Nov. 30. If work is completed up to 20 days before that, the state will pay Nelcon an additional $7,000 a day, said Jim Roberts, state project manager. Conversely, Nelcon will lose $7,000 for every day work lasts beyond the end of November.

Road work is actually ahead of schedule, and Roberts is hopeful it will be completed as early as mid-October, although Nelcon hasn't committed to that.

Meridian has been open to traffic since July 12; for the last week and a half, drivers have been able to access businesses from the front for the first time in months.

The road still might not be the best route for people in a hurry, Weyers said. Two lanes are open at night, but anywhere from two to eight flaggers direct traffic through one open lane during the day.

"If you try to get there during the day, it will still be slow," he said. "I urge you to use caution going through there during the day."

Although the detour signs are gone, many drivers continue to follow the detour route and avoid the construction hassle altogether. This is a frustration for Meridian businesses, but business owners understand why people are keeping off the road.

"Ninety percent of the time, people don't want to be inconvenienced," said Gina MacNeil, who owns Gina's Cafe. "They say, 'Oh, maybe I'll come over there when that road's finished.'

"People just don't want to deal; they don't want to come over to this neck of the woods."

MacNeil opened her restaurant this spring, just a few weeks before construction began. She chose the location because of Meridian's volume of traffic and has spent the last few months trying to make her business profitable without the benefit of drive-by customers.

Most days, her dining room has plenty of available seating, so to keep afloat, MacNeil has taken her business on the road. She goes door-to-door to local offices during the lunch hour, delivering her Mexican-style cuisine to people who don't want to brave construction.

Focusing on the lunch route and catering has kept her in business, MacNeil said.

She isn't the only business owner who has had to adjust her focus while Meridian is under construction. Janelle Gentry owns Janelli's Deli, a gas station, convenience store and deli. For three months, she has operated at about 50 percent of her normal business.

"If not for the deli, I would have gone out of business," she said.

Even so, it hasn't been easy.

"It's been pretty awful, and I keep thinking it's going to get better …" Her words trailed off as she watched a cement truck and front-end loader work outside the store. "It looks kind of like a war zone out there right now.

"I say we're in the survivor contest, and right now we're hanging in there."

Reaching the store has sometimes been a challenge, Gentry said, but access has always been available.

"I'm very, very grateful to my loyal customers who have found their way in here day in and day out," she said. "The most difficult thing is that people are creatures of habit, and they will get confused. But if you tell the flaggers you're going to the store, they'll get you here."

She laughed. "You can call me the un-convenient convenience store."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.