The Montana Department of Transportation’s plan to redesign the interchange at Foy’s Lake Road on the U.S. 93 bypass will replace the heavily trafficked roundabout with a four-lane overpass, but roundabouts will still be part of the configuration.

Two teardrop-shaped roundabouts on the east and west sides of the bypass on Foy’s Lake Road are part of the new design, according to plans unveiled Thursday.

The Department of Transportation and contractors KLJ Engineering and LHC Construction will remove the Foy’s Lake Road roundabout next spring. The project is on an accelerated design-build timeline, with the majority of the anticipated $14.7 million cost covered by a $12.7 million federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD grant. The remaining costs will be covered by a mixture of state and federal funds.

MDT expects the new interchange to be drivable by November 2021.

Bob Vosen, MDT District Administrator for the Missoula District, explained the new configuration will be similar to areas where the bypass crosses over U.S. 2 and Old Reserve Drive, with ramps northbound and southbound onto and off of the bypass.

At the bottom of the ramps will be the two teardrop-shaped roundabouts. The roundabout on the west side will have five “legs” to access the surrounding streets.

During a digital open house on Thursday, representatives from the state, KLJ and LHC acknowledged the current roundabout has become an unpopular traffic device. However, they explained safety concerns were the main motivating factor for installing two smaller roundabouts in place of the existing traffic circle.

According to statistics cited during the open house from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, roundabouts, on average, reduce fatalities by 90%, serious injury crashes by 75% and all kinds of crashes by 37%, because traffic is forced to move more slowly through roundabouts than lighted signals or other intersection configurations.

MDT and the project contractors cited numerous other benefits as their reasons for opting to incorporate roundabouts into the intersection redesign.

Their current projections for traffic volumes in 20 years predict the roundabouts will still be able to keep up with anticipated capacity, without the long-term maintenance costs of electrical repairs for lighted traffic signals.

The roundabouts are also expected to increase efficiency, since motorists will experience fewer delays than they would sitting at a stop sign or traffic light. A roundabout reportedly will be better able to facilitate traffic flow on the five-legged intersection on the west side of the bypass as well.

Additionally, roundabouts are seen as a safer option for non-motorized traffic because walkers and cyclists only need to cross one lane of traffic at a time.

In addition to the roundabouts and the overpass, the redesigned interchange will add parking on the west side of the bypass, where vehicles currently park on Valley View Drive in order to access Lone Pine State Park. The pedestrian/bike path that runs along the bypass will also be preserved.

Construction is slated to begin in March 2021 and wrap up by November 2021, although there will be a few remaining construction activities left to be completed in summer 2022.

John Schmidt, MDT’s Missoula District Construction Engineer, advised motorists and residents in the area to expect some driving delays, short interruptions, possible utility interruptions, and dust and noise from construction. He said construction will generally take place during daylight hours on weekdays, so travelers during these times should expect some single-lane closures. He added there may be some occasional weekend road closures as well.

The first phase of construction will focus on widening the bypass and adding the on- and off-ramps to the highway. During this time, traffic will be shifted off of the bypass in order to build the overpass. During Phase 2, which will focus on constructing the roundabouts, traffic will be shifted back to the bypass.

Access to the rail-trail will be maintained during construction, although some interruptions are anticipated.

MDT will also host a separate meeting with nearby landowners to discuss the noise impacts from the interchange redesign. Currently, the noise level is expected to increase, but not to a degree that it would be eligible for federal funding or MDT’s policy for installing noise walls.

For more information or to provide input on the project, contact Becca MacLean at becca@bigskypublicrelations.com, call the project hotline at 406-207-4484 or visit https://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/kalispellbypass/.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.