Work begins on U.S. Highway 93 Ronan North Project
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RONAN — The Ronan North Project has begun work to complete construction on the four-lane construction of U.S. Highway 93. Beginning at the Round Butte Road intersection, the project will extend about a mile and a half to tie into the existing four lane structure. Additionally, it’ll continue a shared use path north of town adjacent to the highway and add sidewalks along Round Butte Road.
“It’s been in the works for long time. We’re excited to get this next phase going,” commented MDT Missoula District Administrator Bob Vosen. “(It was) a lot of work to get everything put together and then have the funding come together at the right time, so we’re able to deliver this project.”
In order to make the project happen, they had to wait for availability in a rolling five-year funding plan to pay for the nearly $17 million total needed for the highway and Round Butte Road path construction. They also had to acquire new right of way, decide on new utility allocations, and make agreements with landowners, the city of Ronan, Lake County, and the CSKT to get the approval needed to begin.
The first steps on the project are beginning this fall, with some utility reallocation work already underway near the highway. Additionally, the clearing of topsoil and trees will start before the snow falls. If they’re lucky, Vosen hopes they can get working on the large irrigation pipe under the highway before winter sets in, but that will depend on when the pipe gets in from order. Over all, people can likely expect to see large volumes of earth being moved from the side of the road this autumn.
With the contract won by the local western Montana company, Riverside Contracting, work will begin on phase one, the expansion of the southbound lanes, after winter. This will include the installation of drainpipes and storm drains, gravel and then paving. Then, phase two will see construction on the northbound lanes, before the old highway is removed, rebuilt back up, and the whole thing paved.
“We anticipate most of it will be adjacent to the roadway, but there’s still going to be some traffic control,” Vosen said. This will include reduced speeds, road closures, and occasionally single lane stretches with either flaggers or temporary signals as the work is done. There will be times during construction on the northbound lanes that people will be traveling on gravel for that mile and a half. “There definitely will be delays as we get into next summer, but we’ll do everything we can to keep them to the minimum length as possible,” he added.
As for the remainder of the Ronan urban project, which will extend from Round Butte Road to Brooke Lane south of Ronan, Vosen said there’s still a lot of work to be done to get the design for that segment of the undertaking. “There’ll be a lot more information coming on that, as we go along,” he stated.
The goal is to see the construction completed by the end of 2023. Vosen did stress, however, that this will heavily depend on the weather and subject to change. To receive updates on the project’s progress, people can either text US93RONAN to 41411 to subscribe to text updates, call the project hotline at 406-207-4484, or visit the project website at: https://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/ronanurban/
