August 27, 2009
Arlee community celebrates end of highway construction
By Melea Burke
Valley Journal
ARLEE — The dust from a hectic, trying summer of road construction is finally settling in Arlee. Locals, relieved that they won’t have to find new routes around town every few days and delighted by the downtown area’s makeover, celebrated the town’s new look with a community party Saturday evening.
Kids rode bikes and scooters on the freshly paved Main Street, enjoying the last few days of freedom before vehicle traffic takes over the road. Below shiny new street lamps, adults mingled on the ample sidewalks and enjoyed music from local music groups Odyssey and The Dirty Corner Band. Face painting, cowboy poetry readings and adult tricycle races were all part of the fun.
Dave Marsolek, who lives a block from Main Street, enjoyed a seat in the shade while watching grandkids play in the street. When the road opens, he hopes more residents will make use of the new sidewalks for bicycle travel — he said he’s one of three adults who ride bikes around town.
“Hopefully that will change,” he said. “I’m glad we have somewhere to ride (that’s) not in the street … It’s going to be great.”
Everyone seems to agree that Arlee is looking better than ever.
“(Construction workers) have done an incredible job,” said Paul Mollica, president of the Arlee Community Development Corporation. “It really looks beautiful.”
“Everything’s looking up now,” agreed Patty Johnson, who owns Rick’s Kustom Kuts and the Pigasus Bar with her husband Rick.
“I haven’t got a bad word to say … Everything looks great.”
After a summer that was touch-and-go for many businesses since construction detours made accessing downtown too complicated for many would-be customers, business owners are looking forward to the flow of traffic that will soon return to Main Street.
“It was nip and tuck all summer,” Johnson said. “But the locals pull you through, and the construction workers all ate here.”
Of course, Main Street (U.S. Highway 93 North) is now one-way, with only northbound Hwy. 93 traffic passing directly through town. The southbound lanes veer just west of town, so downtown will remain slightly out-of-the-way for those travelers. But Johnson doesn’t think that will affect her business adversely.
“People coming down are probably heading home at night,” she explained. “I’m looking at it positively … It’s going to be easier for people that are going north to get off and on the highway.”
Most of her out-of-town customers are tourists headed north to Flathead Lake or Glacier National Park, Johnson explained, and they’re more likely to spend money on their way up anyway. While she may lose business from southbound travelers who aren’t familiar with Arlee, it’s probably not enough to worry about.
“If they know we’re here, I think they’ll probably stop,” she said.
According to John Benda, engineering project manager with the Montana Department of Transportation, “McClure Road to Arlee is in its final stages.”
Although it didn’t seem possible a few months ago, contractor Dave Schillinger Construction finished the overall project about 5 weeks ahead of the target date, Oct. 4, Benda noted.
“Three months ago, my head was going to pop,” he said.
After striping the new pavement wound up earlier this week, traffic is gradually being shifted to the new Main Street, and speed limits will soon be raised to “more reasonable speeds,” Benda said.
There’s still some final grading work to be done, too, and seeding and landscaping those dirt boxes downtown will have to wait until the weather cools off a bit.
“There will still be some peripheral work going on … but it will be pretty quiet on our part,” Benda explained.
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