Bad Rock highway plans to be announced

The Montana Department of Transportation has come up with recommendations on how to improve U.S. 2 through Bad Rock Canyon, but it won’t release its plans to the public until Aug. 20.

MDT announced last week that it will hold a final public meeting on the highway project at the Hungry Horse Ranger District office on Tuesday, Aug. 28, beginning at 6 p.m.

Spokeswoman Lori Ryan last week said the recommendations are still a work in progress and that no further details will be released until they’re posted on the MDT Web site on Aug. 20.

Consulting firm DOWL HKM is under contract to complete a preliminary plan and assessment for rebuilding U.S. 2 from the House Of Mystery to the South Fork bridge.

Records show 77 accidents occurred on that stretch of highway from 2006 to 2010, with a crash rate 246 percent higher than the statewide average for comparable roads.

The goal is to make the highway safer without ruining the aesthetics of Bad Rock Canyon. In a meeting in April, several options were submitted, including a tunnel, a series of bridges that would cross the river to avoid the canyon, and softening the curves and widening the traffic lanes by extending a portion of the highway over the Flathead River. Funding for the project, however, is several years away, MDT officials said in April.

MDT’s final recommendations will be posted online at www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/badrock/documents.shtml.