The Montana Transportation Commission has selected LHC Construction Inc., in partnership with KLJ Inc., as the contractors for the highly anticipated Kalispell Bypass Foy’s Lake Road Interchange project. They expect to start construction on the project in March 2021.

The LHC/KLJ bid came in at $14.7 million. The city of Kalispell was awarded $12.7 million in federal BUILD grant funds to remove the roundabout and widen the roadway to four lanes throughout the project, which is anticipated to be substantially completed in 2021.

With the selection of the contractors, the project will soon move into its final design and construction phase. The contractors will work with the Montana Department of Transportation to design the final interchange configuration. The plan currently is to expand the bypass roadway to include four lanes with a grade-separated crossing at Foy’s Lake Road, similar to the infrastructure of the northern portion of the bypass. The public can expect to see the proposed design details later this summer.

“We’re pretty excited a local contractor got that job,” Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner said. “It’s exciting news for the Flathead.”

An entourage of local business leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., in September 2018 to lobby for federal funding to widen the south half of the U.S. 93 bypass and remove roundabouts.

The existing roundabout at the Foy’s Lake Road/Kalispell Bypass intersection initially was installed with the intent of removing it at a later date when traffic demands were higher, and funding was available, according to a press release. This process is called phased development and provides a temporary infrastructure solution while funds are accrued, and property is acquired for the final, more permanent solution, the press release explained. This is the first of the remaining Kalispell Bypass projects moving into the construction phase.

Questions, comments or concerns can be sent to Katie Klietz at Katie@BigSkyPublicRelations.com or call (406) 207-4484.