Interstate 90 repaving work nears completion

ALBERTON – Road work on Interstate 90 near Alberton, running over the Missoula County line, is nearly complete.

The work being completed, running from mile marker 74 to 85, is mainly resurfacing and refreshing the asphalt along the stretch of interstate. According to John Benda, construction manager in charge of the project, the Department of Transportation also worked on the base surface under the road.

“We rejuvenated the base course sections under the road and repaved it completely,” said Benda.

Work still to be completed includes the addition of new rumble strips, rail guards and some striping. New guard rails are expected to arrive later this week and will be installed soon.

Benda said the DOT hopes to split the lanes of traffic sometime in the first couple weeks of November. He expects the split will happen around November 7.

“It should all be ready in time for winter,” Benda said.

Once the traffic lanes have been split, Benda said crews will update the striping and rumble strips along the eastbound lane to return it to one-way traffic. This should be the last work done on the project for the year 2013.

The project began in June and has taken about five months, reducing both directions of traffic to one lane along the eastbound side of the interstate. Oversized vehicles and trucks towing wide loads needed to wait until specific hours of low traffic to be led through the span. The main westbound Alberton exit and the westbound Petty Creek on-ramp have also been closed for the duration of the project. Benda explained the plan allowed for the work to be split into next year’s construction season.

“They … accelerated their schedule to get all the major work done this year,” he said.

Next year, Benda said the DOT will work on sealing the road. He expects this will take place in summer 2014.