MDT resumes Hwy. 2 Swamp Creek project

The Montana Department of Transportation announced construction southeast of Libby on Highway 2 on the Swamp Creek East project has resumed this week.

Crews will continue work to replace a bridge over Swamp Creek reconstructing and widening five miles of Highway 2, according to the MDT press release. Noble Excavating from Libby is the prime contractor on the project.

Work will take place between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., with reduced speed limits and shifting traffic patterns, the release states.

The release advises motorists can expect one-lane travel, with pilot cars, flaggers and traffic signals controlling the flow. Motorists “should expect 15-minute delays.”

Travel will be on gravel surfaces during the construction.

Over the course of the project, crews will be widening the lanes to 12 feet, adding four-foot shoulders and repaving, according to the release. They will also be replacing the bridge over Swamp Creek with a wider, single-span, concrete bridge.

The release quotes MDT Engineering Project Manager Drew Fetters.

“A significant portion of the new bridge over Swamp Creek was constructed last year,” Fetters is quoted as saying. “However, we still have about six months of construction ahead of us this year to complete the road widening and repaving.”

MDT has developed a project website where the public can find information and updates on construction activities, according to the release. That site can be found at www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/us2swampcreek.

MDT encourages motorists to allow extra travel time when using Highway 2 and to slow down and use caution when traveling through construction zones.

The public can also sign up to receive notifications about changes to traffic and construction activities by texting SWAMPCREEK to 22828.