County seeks federal funds to fix roads

Flathead County plans to vie for money from a restructured federal highway program to make improvements to Blacktail and North Fork roads.

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act — MAP-21 — that was signed into law in July will fund surface transportation programs at more than $105 billion for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Montana’s slice of the federal pie will be $50 million over the two years.

In a nutshell, the new MAP-21 restructures core highway formula programs, consolidating more than 100 programs into about 20 programs. It establishes a performance-based federal program with an emphasis on accelerating project delivery and promoting innovation.

The Federal Lands Access Program was created by MAP-21 to improve access to federal lands, and Flathead County will have opportunities to work with the Flathead National Forest in competing for money, Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty told the county commissioners last Thursday.

Projects must be located on public highways, roads, bridges, trails or transit systems that are located on or provide access to federal lands.

Blacktail Road in Lakeside, the road leading to Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, is a prime contender, Prunty said, because the county, U.S. Forest Service and Federal Aviation Administration all have some level of jurisdiction for the road. The FAA is involved because of the radar in that area.

“There needs to be a sizable economic generator for the community and the ski hill meets that,” Prunty said.

The county plans to jointly apply with the Forest Service for money to improve drainage, build a better sub-base and pave about two miles of Blacktail Road beyond a three-mile segment of already paved road. With a 13.42 percent in-kind local match of labor, materials or equipment, it makes for some reasonably priced road improvements, Prunty said.

A second proposed project is conducting an engineering analysis and making improvements to the stretch of the North Fork Road north of Polebridge in the Wurtz Slump area. It’s a boggy hillside where the road is vulnerable to slide damage.

Prunty and county grantwriter Deb Pierson recently attended a “webinar” presented by the Federal Highway Administration about the revamped funding program. Project proposals are due by Feb. 8.