TOWNSEND — The Montana Department of Transportation hosted an open house sharing early plans for three different highway improvement projects and asking the public for their thoughts.
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“Oh my gosh, I'm really anxious to see some improvements along this highway in particular,” said Broadwater County resident Patty McKenzie.
The U.S. 12 and 287 corridor between Helena and Three Forks has seen growing safety concerns.
“Our intention is to increase the capacity along the corridor as well as mitigate the recorded crashes along those segments of the corridor,” said MDT project engineer Brandon Jones.
The two-lane highway has seen over 180 crashes across the project area since 2009, a concerning number, especially for people who live on this section of highway.
“We've just noticed it's kind of sketchy getting on and off the highway in certain areas where there is no four-lane,’ McKenzie said.
“Left-hand turns onto the road out of our subdivision is, right now, very impossible at certain times of the day,” said Broadwater County resident Joe Scyphers
Going north to south, the Winston Northwest project widens five miles of highway between Spokane Creek and Winston.
The Beaver Creek project adds turn lanes at the Beaver Creek Road intersection and widens travel lanes and shoulders.
The Silos South project widens another five miles between Silos Road and Cottonwood Campground.
More than 100 residents attended the open house, with many supporting the idea overall, but hoping their feedback is taken into account.
“It's great that they’re trying to get a lot of people’s view,” said Townsend resident Jim Beck, "because there's always something that you don't think about that somebody out here has experienced, so it’s great that there are so many people here.”
This project is funded by the state, costing around $50 million. Construction will start in 2030 at the earliest, following final designs and evaluation.
MDT officials say all three projects are still in the early stages, and they’ll be taking community feedback from the open house and beyond to help shape the next phase of planning.
