CSKT to bring footpath to Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS – Outdoor enthusiasts will soon have an area in town to call home as a new walking path will soon be constructed in Hot Springs.

Surveyors have been out along the edges of Highway 77 east of Hot Springs preparing for the construction of a pedestrian path along the highway to Hot Springs.

According to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Roads Program, the ongoing project called the Hot Springs Path, plans on constructing a detached pedestrian pathway alongside Highway 77.

The proposed path is to be made available to both pedestrian and cyclist traffic alongside the highway.

“It is funded and it’s ready to go. We are actually in the design phase right now,” said Mike Brown, program manager of the CSKT Roads Program.

According to Brown, the pedestrian path is slated to start in town by the Hot Springs Schools and will run east to the highway. The point at which the path terminates will be a cul-de-sac by the intersection of Highway 77 and its junction with Highway 28.

Brown said the pedestrian cul-de-sac could be used as a turn around for bicycles and wheelchairs.

“The path is designed for bikes and pedestrians. The heavier vehicles just wear it out,” Brown said.

The plans state the path will be eight feet wide and constructed approximately twelve feet from the edge of the highway and will total approximately 1.5 miles in length.

The path will also feature a footbridge to span the wetlands on the south side of Highway 77.

“There will be an elevated bridge that passes the wetlands. I believe it is 600 feet, two football fields long,” Brown said.

The CSKT Roads Program acknowledges Highway 77 as a busy roadway due to it being the main access point between Hot Springs and surrounding communities.

The path’s proximity to Hot Springs Schools should also help keep students out of the roadway and safely away from motor vehicles.  

There will be six major construction activities involved with the project.

Construction teams will rough grade the pathway including cutting/filling outslopes and extend or replace irrigation conveyance or turn out structures.

Additionally, crews will place geotextile, base course gravel and hard surfacing along the pathway, install elevated boardwalks through wetland areas and install signage, pavement markings, finish grading and seeding to complete the project.

Brown was unsure of whether the path’s surface would be made out of asphalt or concrete and the decision would be left to the contractor.

“There are no asphalt or concrete plants here in Hot Springs so it has to come from somewhere (else), Plains, Polson or Missoula maybe,” Brown said.

The Montana Department of Transportation Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) funds the project.

CTEP is a Montana Program, which funds transportation related projects designed to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic and environmental aspects of Montana’s intermodal transportation system.

Pedestrian footpaths and pathways have historically been popular outlets for CTEP funds in the past due to the ability of the entire community to reap the benefits of these projects.

CSKT served as the sponsor for this project.

Brown expected construction of the path to take place this winter.

“You guys have nice winters over here. I expect we will build everything through the winter, except for the surface. You have to wait for it to be warm before you can do that,” Brown said.

The program manager added the final surfacing of the path will take place in June of 2015 but a completed gravel walkway should be available to the community by the end of February.