The “Big Beautiful Bill” that President Donald Trump signed July 4 dealt a less-than-lovely blow to reconstruction of Highway 93 near Ninepipe Reservoir, especially the stretch from Eagle Pass Trail to Brooks Lane, originally slated for 2027.

The Montana Department of Transportation announced last week that approximately $63 million in grant funding, awarded to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in 2023, has been clawed back as part of the funding bill.

In April 2024, the Tribes were notified that they had received a Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant from the Biden Administration in the amount of $74.9 million to design and reconstruct Hwy. 93 in the Ninepipe area. According to a press release from MDT, those funds would have paid for more than 80% of the project from Eagle Pass Trail to Brook Lane, slated to begin in 2027.

The North Ninepipe reconstruction would have included widened shoulders, two new highway bridges, wildlife fencing, accommodation features and intersection improvements.

At present, $11.8 million has been obligated for preliminary design work; the remaining $63 million was returned to government coffers as part of language in the bill that revoked unobligated funds for NAE grants nationwide.

"This is an example of how Montana's transportation needs exceed available funding," said MDT Missoula District Administrator Bob Vosen in the press release. "We will continue to work with our partners at CSKT and the Federal Highway Administration to find solutions and funding to complete these projects."

Work on “The People’s Highway” – the section of Hwy. 93 that traverses the Flathead Reservation – began in 2000 and has yet to be finished.

Rich Janssen Jr., head of CSKT’s Department of Natural Resources, calls the loss of significant funding “disheartening, especially when it’s taken away from us after it’s already been congressionally approved.”

The NAE grant represented “a lot of hard work done by a lot of people over the past five years” for a project that would have made Highway 93 “safer for everyone, especially the community that utilizes it daily,” he said.

While the North Ninepipe project is now on hold until funding can be found, other projects remain on MDT’s schedule for 2026 and 2027:

The 2026 project, Dublin Gulch to Gunlock Road, has been shortened by half a mile, but that appears to have more to do with the overall cost of the project than with federal funding cuts.

According to MDT, “the construction cost of this complex project exceeds available funding, requiring that the length of improvements be reduced to align with available resources.”

The Post Creek Hill project now extends 1.5 miles from south of Post Creek Road to McDonald/Leon Road. It still includes a 500-foot bridge spanning Post Creek and a “significant portion” of the northbound climbing lane up Post Creek Hill.

The U.S. 93 Post Creek Hill project is funded by the combination of a Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects grant for $30.5 million, awarded in 2023, with the remainder from MDT. Plans are still preliminary, but MDT predicts the shortened project could cost around $65 million.

Two 2027 projects near Ninepipe Reservoir will also move forward. The Highway Safety Improvement Program will cover work around the intersection with Eagle Pass Trail, including a shared-use path, new turn lane and widened shoulders.

In addition, CSKT was awarded a $10 million grant from the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program in 2023, which will pay for a wildlife overpass, also slated for construction in 2027.

“Sad news, neighbors”

Whisper Camel Means, director of CSKT Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation Division, said CSKT staff, MDT and their grant-writing partners “worked really hard” to secure funding for the reconstruction of Hwy. 93 from Post Creek to just south of Ronan.

“Sad news, neighbors,” she wrote in a recent Facebook post regarding the $63 million rescission, noting that staff from the Natural Resources Department has met weekly with highway contractors and MDT, “trying to expedite the design so we could get the dollars that were awarded on the ground for the last section of U.S. 93 on the Flathead Reservation left to be reconstructed.”

“We will continue to look for funding to make this highway safe for all of us to drive,” she wrote.

According to Janssen, CSKT is working with Montana’s congressional delegation “to see if we can do something” to replace the funding that vanished.

“It's an important stretch of highway,” he added, “not only because of our wildlife concerns, including grizzlies, but also keeping it safe for locals and the high influx of tourists and vehicles during the summer.”

The four members of Montana’s Congressional delegation supported the passage of Trump’s signature legislation.

In a statement Tuesday, Senator Steve Daines’ press secretary, Gabby Wiggins, wrote, “Senator Daines is a strong supporter of local infrastructure projects and will always fight to ensure Montana’s tribal communities have access to the resources they need. He also supports efforts to reduce waste in the federal government, so that taxpayer dollars are used effectively.”