Montana Truckers No Longer Have to Take 74-Mile Detour
Montana truckers headed east from Butte toward Billings no longer have to take a 74-mile detour to avoid construction near the interchange of interstates 90 and 15.
Newly installed detour ramps mean slower speed limits, but truck traffic can make its way through Butte now without a major hassle.
In late September, a routine inspection by the Montana Department of Transportation showed that two bridges that form the interchange were in need of emergency repair.
The state discovered the damage Sept. 22 and reported in a Sept. 26 news release that it involved separation between concrete pillars at both ends of the bridges and the deck that forms the roadway.
Jeff Ebert, MDOT district engineer for Butte, told The Montana Standard that trucks needed to be rerouted because the separation was causing a bouncing effect when heavy tractor-trailers drove on it, though the separation was only about an eighth of an inch.
For truck drivers heading north, the rerouting was only a minor detour to the Woodville exit of Interstate 15, 5 miles north of Butte.
But for those heading east on Interstate 90, the detour meant traveling 40 miles to Boulder on Interstate 15 north and then heading 34 miles south on Montana 69 to Cardwell, where drivers could reunite with Interstate 90.
Thanks to the installation of two new detour ramps, truckers no longer will have to take the jaunt to Boulder.
Dan Clary, MDOT project manager for the bridge project, said construction crews concluded work on an eastbound detour ramp last week and that completion of a westbound ramp is slated for Oct. 18, weather permitting.
Due to the new ramp, he said, several detours for trucks and cars have changed.
Traffic heading east on Interstate 90 from Butte now will take the eastbound detour ramp.
All drivers headed to Interstate 15 north also willl also take the eastbound detour ramp; the ramp will put them on Interstate 90, where they can exit at the Continental Drive Interchange and re-enter on Interstate 90 west until it meets up with Interstate 15 north.
All traffic bound for Interstate 90 west, meanwhile, will take the westbound detour ramp.
Clary said he hopes to complete the entire project by the end of December, so long as weather doesn’t delay progress.
Ebert, meanwhile, said the department tries to inspect each bridge every two years and that the last time these particular bridges were inspected was about two years ago.
Ebert added that the projected lifespan of the bridges is 50 to 75 years.
Built in 1963, the bridges at the interchange of interstates 90 and 15 are 53 years old.
He said that the project will cost $3 million to $3.5 million and that the federal government normally supplies about 91% of the cost.
