A helicopter transports Tetra Tech equipment from Highway 83 as part of a Montana Department of Transportation construction project near Salmon Lake. A helicopter is being used instead of ground vehicles to limit disturbance when accessing steep slopes.
SEELEY LAKE - Traffic on Highway 83 near Salmon Lake is experiencing disruptions resulting from a Department of Transportation project.
Cameron Kloberdanz, Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Geotechnical Engineer, said the project is intended to reconstruct the roadway section along Salmon Lake in order to make it safer, mitigate rockfall hazards and improve pavement quality. The project team is using designs to determine if they can install three to four foot shoulders on each side of the road as well as potential retaining walls in some areas. The work would require some excavation.
Most of the traffic disruption is going to be during the geotechnical investigation. A helicopter is being used to transport engineering consultant Tetra Tech's equipment in order to limit the disturbance when accessing the top of the slopes. In the future, traffic disruptions will take place in other roadway sections, but Kloberdanz said those could not be determined yet because they will depend on the design.
Currently the project is under design with the team determining the best alignment to balance all of the associated costs. Kloberdanz said the roadway section is challenging because one side has Salmon Lake while the other has a steep slope.
The project initially began as part of a larger project called the Seeley Lake south project which began several years ago. Currently the initial design is at 10%, but the team intends to raise it to 30% by January 2021. MDT will reconstruct Highway 83 along the east side of Salmon Lake beginning in the fall of 2022 with the hope of having construction completed by the end of 2023.
Montana's road and bridge maintenance is primarily funded through federal and state/local funding sources. The Transportation Department receives no funding from Montana's general fund. Federal road and bridge revenues are generated through gas and diesel fuel taxes.
There will be several opportunities to engage with the project team. MDT encourages the public to get involved, share input and learn more about this important highway improvement project.
More information about the project can be found on https://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/salmonlake/ or by emailing SalmonLakeHWY83@hdrinc.com.
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