by Evelyn Pyburn
As soon as the weather improves, construction of the bridges on the I-90 Yellowstone River Project will resume after having been on hold since November.
Everything is in place and the contractor, Sletten Construction, is ready to go, according to MDT Project Manager Shane Johnson. The project, which involves the widening of traffic lanes and rebuilding bridges, remains on schedule despite floods and ice. It is 50-60 percent complete.
This summer’s construction will be something of a repeat of last summer’s; only on the East bound lane—the rebuilding of the west bound bridges and lane are completed. This summer, East bound I-90 traffic will be rerouted to one-way traffic on the West bound lane to accommodate construction. The detour should be a little better on the completed West bound lane, said Johnson, because it will be wider.
The Montana Department of Transportation began last year with the project that will reconstruct Interstate 90 between the North 27th Street Interchange and the Lockwood Interchange widening it from two lanes to three. The project includes reconstruction of the bridges over the Yellowstone River and the Talen Energy railroad spur line.