$3.3 million West Rosebud project slated for 2016

Work on a $3.3 million project to upgrade the West Rosebud Creek Road could begin by late June or July next year and be done by October, representatives from the Federal Highway Administration announced at a public meeting at the Fishtail Library on Dec. 15.
The engineering work is completed but needs final approval by FHWA offices in Washington, D.C., FHWA project manager Keith Wong said.
“We also need to acquire some rights-of-way and finish some permitting,” Wong said.
The project runs 3.6 miles from the Fiddler Creek Road intersection, which will be realigned, to the Allen Grade Bridge, which will be replaced. The new road will be 20 feet wide with a 9-inch aggregate base topped with gravel, Brian Wacker, an engineer with Robert Peccia & Associates said.
“Many rural roads in Montana only get a 6 inch base,” he said.
New culverts will not only improve water flow in wetlands areas but improve drainage and protect the road.
“The project will increase public safety and reduce maintenance costs for the county,” Wong said.
Wacker said 30-minute delays would be possible during construction, but the new Allen Grade Bridge will be installed next to the old one in a new alignment, keeping the road open during construction.
Wong explained that a larger project that included chip-sealing part of West Rosebud Creek Road northeast of the Fiddler Creek Road intersection and rebuilding the unpaved road from the intersection to several miles past the Allen Grade Bridge had been approved several years ago at an estimated cost of $15 million.
But funding rules changed since then, and a local or state match is now required. That resulted in the county significantly reducing their request to the FHWA. The county’s 13.42 percent match for the $3.3 million project comes to about $435,000, which the county will fund through a one-time 15-mill levy on properties outside the Columbus town limits.
The federal government is interested in the road because it provides access to federal lands – the national forest and the Mystic Lake recreation area and power generating facility.
The completed road will be posted with 35 mph signs, Wong said.
“Local landowners don’t want a speedway, and we don’t typically do that,” he said. “We understand the sensitivities of local people.”
“We already have them going 60,” local landowner Dick Henry said. “They come flying down there. I’m surprised we don’t get more wrecks.”
Wong said posting more speed signs and warning signs for curves could easily be done, but installing speed bumps, as one person suggested, was out of the question. Reporting accidents and damage to property was also important, Commissioner Maureen Davey said.
“If you’re pulling vehicles out of the ditch, you need to tell us,” she said.
Local landowner David Wrench said he also wanted dust control measures, such as a road surface coating, and a gross vehicle weight limit. He said he was “OK with cattle trucks” but he was concerned about oil drilling rigs in the future.
Commissioner Gerald Dell said lowering the speed limit would require a speed study, and Wacker said that couldn’t be done until after the road work was completed.
Henry also expressed concern about the wear and tear on the roadway caused by RVs and travel trailers, but Wong pointed out that the funding program is for roads that access federal lands.
“You’ll get RVs,” he said.
“You need to slow them down,” Henry said.