River road widening to begin in Troy

A project to widen the county road on the north side of the Roosevelt Bridge over the Kootenai River in Troy is under way.

The road is currently too narrow to allow two cars to pass, said Lincoln County Commissioner John Konzen. Plans to remove material from an adjacent rock wall to widen the driving surface have been in the works since 1996, he said.

The project involves the removal of 20,000 cubic yards of material, which will be transported to a nearby washout area, and adding 10 feet to the road's width along with another 10 feet in a rock catch basin, Konzen said.

"It's going to enhance the safety of that portion of the road," he said.

The project is expected to take about 120 days to complete, depending on the weather. During the construction period, the road will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Area residents will be able to use an alternate route over the O'Brien Loop, Konzen said. That road will be maintained by the county for winter use during construction, he said.

The plan is to complete the upriver portion of the project first to minimize impacts to residents, Konzen said.

Noble Excavating of Libby is the contractor for the project. Noble's base bid of $161,000 was significantly less than the bids submitted by two Missoula-area contractors also vying for the job, Konzen said. The engineer's estimate was $220,000.

Konzen said he's happy that a local firm submitted the low bid and was able to take the contract.

"It keeps jobs local and keeps people at work during the wintertime," he said.