Expect traffic delays as work begins this week on a section of U.S. Highway 93 from Lake’s Corner south to Round Butte Road in Ronan.

The project, which adds two lines and a bike trail, was initially slated to start last spring. According to Bob Vosen, Missoula District administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation, the reconstruction was postponed due to the challenges of acquiring right of ways and finalizing agreements with other government agencies.

Work began this week on relocating utilities and removing topsoil and a 54-inch irrigation pipe. Traffic disruption this fall could include some speed limits and shoulder closures.

Next spring, the contractor will begin building a new southbound lane, which will funnel traffic down to one lane, and require some traveling on gravel.

“There will be delays – we’ll do our best to minimize them as much as possible,” Vosen says. As summer traffic picks up, he anticipates more hurdles for both road builders and drivers.

“Our goal is to limit delays to 15 minutes or less, but we do run into challenges sometimes with specific operations and when traffic gets really heavy.”

In addition to expanding the road from two to four lanes, the project also:

• Installs a new traffic signal at the Old US 93 and 3rd Ave. intersection, which requires “squaring off” those roads so that they intersect Hwy. 93 directly across from each other.
• Constructs a short, 600-foot two-lane segment on 1st Ave., starting at Round Butte Rd. in preparation for the construction of the Ronan-Urban project, when 1st Ave. will become the US 93 southbound lane through Ronan. That segment begins at the old Don Aadsen dealership and curves through the former Tribal Health buildings, leaving Java Junction and the Dairy Queen ”on their own little block,” says Vosen.
• Permanently closes access to Spring Creek Rd. at U.S. 93.
• Constructs a new shared-use path connecting Round Butte Rd. with the existing shared-use path along US 93.

“Obviously, this time of year everything is weather dependent,” says Vosen.

MDOT officials held two public meetings last week, one at the Ronan Community Center and a second via Zoom. “The biggest concern for the public was recognizing the fact that traffic on Hwy. 93 is heavy and busy and backed up during the summer so how do we handle construction in the middle of that? That’s definitely a concern MDOT has and we’ve definitely heard a lot about it from the public,” says Vosen.

The Ronan-North project will cost an estimated $16 million, and the path is estimated to cost an additional $800,000. The money comes from the most recent federal highway spending bill. While Vosen notes that the “new bill is a large bill, in all honesty inflation has eaten up any of those additional funds,” he says. “Here in Western Montana we’ve got a lot more needs than we have money – there’s no two ways about it.”

Sets stage for Ronan couplet

The project sets the stage for eventually building a southbound couplet through Ronan. But that effort, Vosen, says, is further down the road. “We’re still working on design and continuing to coordinate with the City of Ronan because they’ve got a lot of infrastructure that needs to be replaced in conjunction with, or prior to” completing that stretch.

“We don’t want to put new road over old water and sewer lines,” he adds. Securing right-of-ways and funding are additional hurdles.

The last time significant improvements were made to the section of Hwy. 93 from Evaro to Polson was 2009-2010. In addition to building the southbound couplet through Ronan, two significant phases remain: from Red Horn/Dublin Gulch roads up Post Creek Hill and the Ninepipe corridor from Brooke Lane to Gunlock Road.

Vosen says MDOT has been working with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and other entities to wrangle a large grant “that would enable us to move one of those projects through.” “There are discretionary funds available,” he adds. “We have to figure out how to best work together to secure the most discretionary grants we possibly can.”