Numerous updates at Lincoln Government Day

The May 7 Lincoln Government Day meeting featured updates on several Public Works and infrastructure related projects

Speed and passing zones

The speed limit on Highway 200 east of Lincoln will be going down…a little.

Lewis and Clark County Public Works Director Eric Griffin said the Montana Highway Commission, during their April 22 meeting, approved lowering the highway speed limit east of Lincoln out to Airport road from 70 mph to 60 mph.

The decision is in keeping with the speed study completed by the Montana Department of Transportation last September.

The Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council, citing incidents not included in the speed study, lobbied for both 50 mph speed limit in that area, as well as removal of the passing zone in that area. However, the county agreed to endorse the 60 mph speed limit, provided MDT address the UBVCC’s concerns about the passing zone, which has to be studied separately.

UBVCC Chairman Zach Muse said MDT will do a study of the passing lanes on both ends of Lincoln. East of town there have been an increasing number of close calls and accidents near the entrances to Sculpture in the Wild and to the Lincoln Ranger Station. West of town, a passing zone begins near the entrance to Parker Medical Center and the Lincoln Ambulance facilities, which has led to unsafe passing in that area.

Muse said they hope to complete one passing zone study this month and a second in July, when traffic through Lincoln is near its peak. He said it’s not like a speed study, which can use passive instruments to record speeds and vehicle counts.

“You’ve got to sit out there and watch,” he said. “They want to make sure they’ve got a good example of how things really are on the ground.”

Muse and Griffin hope to have local representatives on hand when DOT does their assessments.

Lincoln Streets

Lincoln’s streets should be on the agenda for the June Government Day meeting.

The streets were slated to be chip sealed this year, however neither of the two Rural Improvement Districts in Lincoln have enough money in them to fund the work that needs to be done.

“Assessments are going to have to be looked at and changed,” Griffin said. Meeting restrictions related to COVID-19 prompted the county to delay the project until 2022, to give them time to host public meetings. “We didn’t feel it was a fair thing to do when we couldn’t meet with the public.”

Griffin said he will bring his Public Works RID crew to provide a presentation at the June 4 meeting. They are also expected to be on hand at the monthly UBVCC meeting May 18, to provide the council with updated information ahead of the June Government Day presentation

In anticipation of increased interest among Lincoln residents, the commission will probably host the meeting at Lincoln Community Hall, although that hasn’t been finalized.

Looking ahead, the UBVCC plans to meet in person at the Lincoln Library, but will also continue to host a Zoom meeting to provide Griffin and Commissioner Jim McCormick with the ability to take part in routine meetings, without having to drive up from Helena.

“If we’ve got issues …where we’ve got guests who come up for a project, then we can meet,” Muse said, adding they will revisit the issue if the UBVCC sees more local community participation.

Dalton Bridge

Muse told Griffin and the commissioners there has been growing irritation and frustration at the lack of progress on the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge replacement.

Griffin said he got the report from MDT on the bridge, but that it’s still slated for 2023.

“We have no options at this point. They’re designing it. Were so far down the road at this point there’s no changing it,” he said, but suggested there might be an opportunity to put some pressure on the state to use some of the money coming down from the federal infrastructure bill to move it up.

“I’ll push, but can’t promise anything on that,” Griffin said.

Weed Board

Griffin reported they are still looking for a weed board member for Lincoln.

Dawn Charron had been on tap to take on the role, but withdrew due to personal issues.

“The weed board would really like to have someone from west of the divide,” he said. “It’s just kind of critical for the operation to do that.”

Alice Creek

The county re-opened Alice Creek Road May 4, once it became passable up to the Forest Service boundary. The county closed the road in early April due to snow and poor road conditions and issues with passability.

Poorman Bridge

A bridge on Stemple Pass Road that will replace a culvert on Poorman Creek near McClellan Gulch will be moving forward in late June or July.

Griffin said the Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which developed the project, put the bridge up for bid around February, but the bids came in “extremely high”

He said they rejected all the bids and put it out again. The bids were better, but still came in some $60,000 high. Griffin said it’s still a great investment for the county which will ultimately take ownership of the bridge, so they came up with difference.

Griffin said partnerships are key to projects like this, which is a partnership between the county, BBCTU, US Fish Wildlife Service and the Forest Service.