Valley Journal
Valley Journal

This Week’s e-Edition

Current Events

Latest Headlines

What's New?

Send us your news items.

NOTE: All submissions are subject to our Submission Guidelines.

Announcement Forms

Use these forms to send us announcements.

Birth Announcement
Obituary

Skyline Phase 2 begins this summer

Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local. You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.



Subscribe now to stay in the know!

Already a subscriber? Login now

POLSON — The joke goes that there are two seasons in Montana: winter and construction, and construction on Phase 2 of the Skyline Project is tentatively scheduled for July. It will last until September 2013 with a four to five-month winter break, according to Paddy Trusler, chair of the Lake County Commissioners.

Trusler joined Mitch Stelling, Mary Stelling and Scott Fanning, all from Stelling Engineers, Inc., the design engineering firm for the project, and Gary Gray, construction engineer, at a public meeting held on March 15 at the United Methodist Church to discuss Phase 2 of the Skyline Drive project.

In front of about 35 residents and interested parties, Mitch estimated the final Phase 2 plans would be completed in a month and a half and then bids for the construction contractor could be let in June with the contract awarded around July 4.

Phase two includes:
• two lanes of curb and gutter from First Street East to the new Mission View Drive
• two lanes of rural road from new Mission View Drive to Caffrey Road
• a 25 mph design speed limit
• retaining walls from Demers Lane to Mission View Drive
• asphalt surface
• intersection improvements
• a pedestrian/bike path
• storm drainage.

A map will be available at www.lakecounty-mt.org as soon as the final design is complete, which should be May, according to the Lake County Commissioners office.

During construction, traffic will be clockwise one way down Skyline with residents going through Polson on Highway 93 and around to return home.

Mitch said no paving would take place this summer, but construction would consist of pipe work and building the outside walls on the north edge of Skyline Drive. In 2013, the upslope walls and heavy paving will be completed.

“It’s an inconvenience, we all realize that,” Trusler said. “We don’t want to fight with you; we want to work with you.”

Lake County, in cooperation with the cities of Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, received funding for the project from a $12 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Sponsored by: