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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNewsline - September 2005Transportation Bill Benefits Montana i'~inally! AtlonglaSt, on '~.. A. August 10, President George W. Bush signed into Iaw a six-year mmsportation pro gram reauthofization bill: the Safe, Accountable, Hexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (somewhat regrettably refexred to as "We'ro really excited to see this bill pass, and the President sign it, and we can go on and build roads in Montana and bring some economic en- ergy to the state," said MDT Director Jim Lynch. For those keeping ~zack, the signing of this bill put an ccd to the previous reauthorization bill (TEA-21) some 680 days and 12 program extcc- sions after the long-term funding bill expLred in September of 2003. The numerous shnst-tenu program extensions and general future l%nd~ng uncertainty have lcd to increasing difficulty in developing and managing a deliverable highway program. The recent passage of SAFETEA-LU was a crucial step for those managing Montana's mmsportetion program. In addition to providing long-term funding certainty for program managers, SAFI~TIe~-LU, much to the credit of Senator Max Baucus, treats Mootana very favorably in terms of funding. In general SAFI~'I'/c[A-LU provides a 30 percent increase in Montana's core highway program funding (thc core programs include the Interstate, National Highway System, Bridge, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Pre- grams and a new Highway Safety Program) and a 44 percent increase in overall state trax~ortatiun funding. The increase in non-core programs is roainly through High Priority funding (for ear- roark projects) that Montana's congressional delc- gatiun secured for much-needed improvements around thc state. In total~ Montana will receive an ~lirnated $2.3 bffiion over the life of the six-year andiorizafion, of which $1.7 billion is directed to the state's core highway programs. Nearly as important as the overall funding level are new provisions that will protect Mon- tana's share of the national program while al~o helping us stretch our fuel tax dollars. Through thc Equity Bonus Provision of SAFETEA-LLI, Montana's formula share is "locked in" over the continued on page 2 Project Locations With Special Funding A Lincoln County- US-2 Swamp Creek East Roadway & Bridge.... $6 million B Whitefish Pedeetdan & Bicycle Trails ........................................... $3 million C Kallspell Bypass Projects ............................................................ $30 million D Goingto the Sun Road Reconstruction ...................................... $50 million E St. Mary Water Project Road & Bridge .......................................... $8 million F US-93 N[nepipe to Ronan Projects ............................................... $8 million G US-93 Projects Between Lolo & Hamilton .................................. $15 million H MIIItown Dam Site Redevelopment- Miasoula & Deer Lodge.... $5 million I Mlssouls - Russell Street Reconstruction & Bridge .................... $6 million J East Belgrade Interchange & Connecting Roads ......................... $8 million K Two Medicine Bddge, US-2, EastofGlacier Netional Park........$25 million L Bozeman Parking Garage ............................................................. $4 million M Bozeman Library Plaza & Bicycle/Pedestrian Trails ............ $1.125 million N Marysville Road Reconstruction, Lewis & Clark County .............. $5 million 0 Helena 1-15 Corddor .................................................................... $10 million P Conrad 1-15 North Interchange ..................................................... $4 million Q Groat Fails South Arterial Development .................................... $4.5 million S US-2 Corridor- Browning & North Dakota State Line ............... $20 million T Billings Bypass ............................................................................... $7 mililsn U MT-3 between Billings & Great Falls ........................................... $15 million V Beartooth Highway & Red Lodge North ...................................... $22 million W US-2 Corridor- Glasgow East to NoAh Dakota State Line ........ $10 million X MT-16 - Northeast of Glendive ..................................................... $7 million Y Shiloh Road, Billings .................................................................... $10 million Z MT-78 Corridor Development ..................................................... $10 million AA Bench Boulevard & Lake Elmo Drive, Billings ............................ $17 million BB 19th Street- Babcock to Kagy, Bozeman ................................... $5 million CC US-287, Townsend South ........................................................... $10 million DD Cut Ban k Railroad Overpass ........................................................ $6 million EE Havre Eaet- including Poplar to Glasgew .................................. $10 million FF Lonepine North & East (MT-28) .................................................... $7 million GG S-323 - Alzada to Ekalaka .................................................. .'.... $12 million HH Port of Montana Access Road - Butte .......................................... $4 million "Transportation Bill" continued from page 1 life of the b'fll--meanlng that our percentage share will not de- grade over time, as was the case with the last bill. This allows MDT to more accurately plan for future project development and construction projects throughout the life of the program. A second significant change is a provision that allows Moa- tana to decrease th~ required match for additional programs through use of a sliding scale match. I-Iistodcally, the sliding scale was only applied to matching funds for non-Iuterstate roadway programs such as National Highway System and Sur- face Transportation Pwgrams. The re_~t of the programs were subject to the standard 80/20 federal/non-federal match. The - broader application of the sliding scale decreases the non-federal match for the Bridge, High Priority Projects, and Improvement Project Programs, which will allow lvIDT to s~ctch Montana's fuel tax funds further and thus delay the need for a state fuel tax increase. Montana's congressional delegation deserves much of the credit for this change in match requirements. Montana is one of only five states to receive the broader application of the sliding scale for the High Priority Projects Program. Consistent with the highway program gains, the transit pro- visions in the new bill are also favorable for Montana. Under SAFETEA-LU, Montana will receive an estimated 215 percent increase in transit program funding. This new funding is the result of a greater emphasis on providing public transportation access to the disabled, tribal members, and health and human services agencies. The expanded application of sliding scale matches, similar to those in the Highway Program, will further benefit Montana's transit programs. Overall, SAFETEA-LU will bring more funds, moro pro- jects, more safety improvements, moro public transportation services, and an estimated 18,000 jobs to Montana. In the com- ing weeks and months, MDT staff will be contacting agencies and officials to discuss the changes. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Jii~ Skinner, Program and Policy Analysis Manager, at 444-9233 or jskinner~mt, gov. Beartooth Highway Repairs Near Completion Work is progressing on the Beartooth Highway (U.S. Highway 212) between Red Lodge and Cooke City, and MDT District ~Adrnlni~tra- ter BrUCe B~ is cautiously opfirai~tic thc work wiU be completed by the OctOber 15 target date. The biggest poten- tial obstacle at this point is the weather. At its highest point, the Beartooth Highway roaches 10, 974 feet, and snow is not unusual at higher elevations this time of yeer. Repair and reconstruction work is nearing completion at all 13 sites damaged by spring mudslides. Cra'rant efforts am con- ceutrafing on Sites 7 and 11 where workers are consmmfing an MS£ (Mechanically Stab'tlized Earth) wall and box culvert. Incidental work such as paving, seeding, compnsting, recoutour- ing, and rocldall- and debris-fanec installation continues on various sites. This is one of the largest emergency relief projects MDT has ever undertaken, and work to reopen the road is progressing at a record pace. The unique permcrship between MI)T, Kiewit Western, ~ Engineering, and JTL Group has cunffibuted greedy to this progress. Thc area remains unstable and dangerous, snd construction equipment poses an additional danger to anyone in the area. MDT urges people not to travel beyond road closure points. Those interested in the construction c. an view 9 of thc 13 sites from an observation area developed by MDT in coopera- tion with thc Custer National Forest. To find the area, take U.S. Highway 212 to the Rock Creek turnoff, approximately 12 miles south of Red Lodge, and follow the pavement through thc Park- side, Groenough Lake, and Limber Pine Campgrounds. Then turn left on Forest Road No. 2421, also known as thc Glacier Lake Road, toward the M-K Campground. Look for the obser- vation area about 1 mile south of this campground. Binoculars arc recommended but not essential. Motorists can still Wavcl between Red Lodge and Cooke City via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway (S-296). For more information and detailed directions, go to www. redlodge, conff bthighway. For additional construction information, contact Charity Watt Levis at 444-7205 or cwattievi~mt, gov. 2 Watco Acquires Second Montana Short-Line Railroad On August 15, the Yello, wstone Valley Rail- road became Montana s fifth short-line rail- mad when it began operating on 171 miles of track in northeast Montana. Yellowstone Valley Railroad (YSVR) oper- ates on two separate lines through 15-year )ease ag~eemcuts with BNSF Railway. The northern line begins at Bainville and ends at Scobey. The southern line begins in Glendive end extends northeast to Snowden. Together, the two li~es are expected to serve about a dozen customers and move over 8,000 carloads of primarily sugas'and ' grain annnelly. YSVR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Watco Companies, which is based in Kansas. Watco currently operates 15 other short-line rail- roads in 15 states including Mission Mountain Railroad, which began serving Kalispell and Eureka in December of 2004. Yellowstone Valley Railroad's office is in Sidney. For more information, contact general manager Mike Lyons at 433-8561 or mylyons@ watcocompanies, com. A New Look for Victor's Main Street Tm small ~it~oot Yai]cy commu~i~ n£ ¥ic~or lies n new ioek t~..k; te an en~¢ and c~'~ ¢~ti~' comm~t- tee. Both sides of Main Street between Meridian and Tudor S~ts now sport new, wider sidewalks, drought-r~aistant flees sun'ounded by iron guards, low-maintenence pedeslxien benches, period street lights, and new trash receptacles. Most of the funds for the project came from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP). To raise the 13.42 percent in local matching funds, Ann Hayman, Anita Dmwien, and IAndn Gonsalves formed the Victor Improvement Project Committee in 1999. The committee organized bake sales, silent auctions, bread and breakfast tours, brew tastings, a letter-writing campaign, and even hosted a Christmas shop to raise the entire local match of approximately $18,000. Lendworks Consulting end Design in Missoala designed the project, end Gregsmn Consmmtion from Hamilton was the prime contractor. For more information about CTEP, contact Mike Wherley at mwherley@rnt, gov or 4444221 or Ross Tervo at rtervo@m~gov or ~.~.~. 9209. Victor's Main Street in August 2003 The same street corner in June 2004 Capital Assistance & TransADE Application Workshops MITE will soon begin accepting applications for funding assis- tance through its Capital Assistance Program and the Transporta- tion Assistance for thc Disabled and Elderly (TramADE) Pro- Thc federally funded Capital Assistance Program provides ':* funding for vehicle~, shelters, aud other c,apital eq~pmcot, While TransADE provides operating assistance ~ agenc'i~s that pfoVidc' transportation to the disabled and elderly. As in past years, lviDT will host sevemi regional.informa- tional workshops to provide prospective applicants V~ith informa- tion about these transit funding opportunities. We encourage all agencies interested in these programs to send a representative to one of the workshops listed below. If yoor agency serves residents living on or near one of Montana's seven Indian reservations, recent changes in federal law provide opportunities to usc Indian Reservation Road Pro- gram funds for *he required matching funds for MDT's Capital Assistance Program. For more information on these changes, agencies should contact their tribal government or Bureau of Indian Affairs office. Locations, dates, and ~ime for thc workshops are as follows: Poison: Tuesday, October 25 Lake County Public Health Dept. Conforencc Room 802 Main Street TmnsAD£ Workshop lO a.m. to 12 noon Capital Assistance Workshop i to $ p.m. Billings: Wednesday, October 26 MET Transit 1705 Monad Sb*eet TransADE Workshop 10 a. ra. to 12 noon Capital Assistance Workshop ] to $ p.m. Shelby:. Friday, October 28 Mafias Medical Center 640 Park Drive TransADE Workshop JO a.m. to 12 noon Capital Assistance Workshop 1 to $ p.m. Butte: Monday, October 31 Belmont Senior Citizens Center 615 East Mercury S~a~ct TransADE Workshop JO a.m. to 12 noon Capital Assistance Workshop I to 3 p.m. Wolf Point: Wednesday, November 2 MlYr Wolf Point Field Office Conference Room Highway 25 East TransADE Workshop 10 a.m. to 12 noon Capital As~stance Workshop 1 to 3 p.m. Havre: Thursday, November 3 MDT Havre Field Office Conference Room 1671 Highway 2 West TransADE Workshop 10 a.m. to 12 noon Capital Assistance Workshop i to 3 p.m. If you have any questions or need assistance in attending the workshop, please contact Patrick Sanders at 4~n. -6120 or psanders@mt, gov. WNot Just for Kids! ~' edaesday, October 5, is Tnteroafional Walk ? · (~d B~e) to School Day, pm of a ~ek- long effoK ~t begin ~ G~at Bfit~ ~ 1994. P~, ~h~s, ~d comm~ ~e~ ~ ~CO~ m jo~ schoolc~en ~ ~y w~ or bicycle to ~hool on ~b~ 5. ~e p~o~ of W~ m School Day is m ~h c~n how m s~ly ~vel m ~d ~m school, ~am p~n~ aw~ ~ss of ~do~ wu~ con~fio~, ~ ~ he~ of c~- ~ ~mve ~ q~, ~d dec~e ve~cle congestion ~ ~ool mnes. ~g lint ~'s even~ appw~ma~ly 3 million p~d- p~ ~m 36 co~es w~d W mhooL For ~e ~om- fien, ~sit ~.iwa~osch~torg, or con~t Pm L~e- Da~s m ~9273 orp~n~e~s~.gov. Back to School As students return to the classroom across Montana: keep the following in mind when you drive near schools: · Watch for children walling or bicycling when backing out of driveways and garages and when exiling alleyways. · Watch for children in neighborhood school zones. Be aware of your child's school route. · Slow down and watch for children at comers and bus stops. · Be aware of school bus laws: Yellow flashing lights indicate children arc preparing to load or unload and drivers should be prepared tO stop. Red flashing lights indicste children are loading or unloading and drivers MUST stop and wait until red lights are no longer flashing. The motorist must not re- same driving unril the extended stop-sigo arm is retracted and the bus is moving again. · Children are not small adults. A child's peripheral visidn is not fully developed. Children also have difficulty determin- ing direction of soand and jndging the speed and distance, of moving motor vehicles. %: 4 A Safer Route Through Seeley Lake 5 2 o °§ figure 1 5 , ' ............. ~ ~ ~ figure 2 Befor*: This was Montana Highway 83 through Seeley Lake in Augt~t 1999. It was the scene of an unacceptable number of rear. end and left-mm collisions. After: A new two-way left-mm lane and bicycle/pedes. tr~an path make the trip through Seeley Lake much safer. Montana Highway 83 is a scenic two-lane highway that ~ through the unlncorpo- rated town of Sccley Lake. It i~ a teuri~t route wher~ the average daily traffic count soars during the summer. In July 2004, the average daily traffic count was 3,885 vehicles. ~ was 73 percent higher than the average daily Iraffic count for the rest of the year. Becan~e of a high number of rear-end and ldt-tum collisions on this highway, lvlDT added a two-way left-turn lane and a separate bicycle/ pedestrian path in 2000--2001. A-1 Paving was tim prime contractor for this project. dro Following these improvemgms, the crash rate Pped from 4.91 crashes per million vehicle miles traveled in 1994-1996 (3.71 in 1997-1999) to 1.5 in 2001-2004 (ftgums 1 and 2). The sever- ~.tYc.ra~*' aho dropped from 11.4~ per million ve- ~ ~n~/ ~ '~ in th~ post-¢onsu-actinn years 2002- l~ ~'-"' (figure 3).  Aa theae sta~Jstlcs show the telo"-~- '~, *qT~ severity rate is defined as eight times the number of. fatal and incapaci. °f this project ~$1 lna ~nn, ~.~,~.~.o~ taauginjurycrashespinsthreetlmesthenumberofminorinjurycrashes laag"~v] bea~.m. ~- 2 ; ~,.,',.,uu., prooucea Dig plus the number of property-damage.only crashes er million vehicle miles  ,,~, wr ~eeley Lake. of traveL P the old bridge, which had become m man) ~ el choiy rermnd~r of the passing of the old wesL ~nd ,. Jla pionee~'men and their works." The "new" Browne's ~ Bridge, arivet~d Warren through truss, stillcrosses Hole River about six miles south of Melrose at ~ TtmoriginaL~rowne!s Bridgecirca1880s~KingPosttn~ses~.~ ~ mentor Fish, Wildlife and p~k~' fishing accoss site. '~-'camb~,r~ognlzed'bytlmsimple~triangula~r.configuratiott-of :, Fi'om 1915 to 1926. the proee, ss Of bridge c0nsU, uctiom! '? the tr~seg. The log crit~ piers w. re typical of bridges built ira, tn Montana changed very httle. The Highway -' the:1860s and1870~ (Montana Histotqcat~goaiery) · : ~ ~i:'~ ~ ' .... and tim counties oversaw the consa'uction of ove, r:160 ~i;i~[ bridges. Some that can sull I all .de the recen~ ~ti:' rehabilitated NatUral Pi6r Bridge at Alberton th~ Clark ?~: ;':::~: ForkBndge at Bouner, the Yellowstone ~ pompey's Piilar, and the MissStud River ?'::which Was ]iSteSi R on the guardralls appeared suffi¢ienily "unworkrnanlike as to inevitably draw public attentionto its defects." In his:; Crenshaw had ignored Specifications. In retaliation; the Commission declined to accept the bridge, and Crnnshaw refused to make the necessary changes; ally, Crenshaw s bond holder, the Fkst State Bank, workers to complete the work on the carter Bridge. In. 1_954, the Montana Highway Department replaced the ¢~: !i,;' came ob~oua to,tlm ~.~;, ;' pany~as not qqit~ up m ~ s~n c~wto susp~d.~:un · se~ ~e~ ~ ~e ~blems could be ~sni~ed.~ ~C. ~way C6mmissi~ :c~ en~JO~ ~ : - ~,~He comp~ ~ ~ bfid~'.s ~em~~ ~ ; ~ ~ ve~ ~od ~a s~ ~stm but mu~ wh~ ~e~ : : ~masho~ffis~~' ~b~epoor~u~app~- ~ ~ on ~w's M~ to c~t ~e ~per mmv , ': cm~ fo~, w~h ~ow~ ~e ~ w o~e out b~ twin ~ ~. ~y ~ c~ ~ ~n~w's ~ bridges, however, Montana had the rnpatafion of having ti th¢48 states. In 1930, author Hoffman Birney roads, of Montana are, I believe, tho poorest of an, the Union. Even the glorious scenery of the Rookies entirely make up for ruts chug-holes mud and detours--'tc~ say nothing of broken spnngs or stone-brmsed Utes..:. The mad was atrocmus, the scenery superb. Economic.calamity in the 1930s would cause a pro- found change in Montana's system of roads and bridges~ -' Within less than ten years of Bimey's observation and after; a massive government-funded public works program, Montana's roads evolved from the nation's worst to among~ the very best in the United States. Many of the bridges built during that decade still surviVe unfl are integral partse 5' of the modern highway system ia Montan~. Newsline is a quarterly publication of the Rail, Transit and Planning Division, Montana Department of Transportatiot~ 6,606 copies of this public doctunent were published at an estimated cost of $0.373 per copy for a total of $2,465 which includes $710 for printing and $1,755 for distribmion. Alternative accessible formats o f this document will be provided upon request. For further information call (406)444-6331. The TrY mxmher is (406)444-7696 or (800)335-7592.. MDT's mission is to serve the public by providing a transportation system and services that em phasize quality, safety, cost effectiveness, economic vitality and sensitivity to the environment. Rail, Transit & Planning Division Montana Department of Transportation 2701 Prospect Avenue P.O. Box 201001 Helena, Montana 59620-1001 800-71.4-7296 Pre Sot1 Standard U.S. Postage PAID Helena, MT Permit No. 141 LAUREL CITY COMMISSION PO BOX 10 LAUREL MT 59044-0010