ADLC gets $19M federal grant to redo Mill Creek Highway

One of the most scenic stretches of roadway in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County is the Mill Creek Highway, but historically it's also been one of its most treacherous. Yet that treachery soon will give way and leave only the scenery, as ADLC has received a $19.3 million federal grant to redo about 5 miles of the road, including eliminating the dreaded "S-curves." 

The announcement that ADLC had been awarded a U.S. Dept. of Transportation Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant was a highly welcome one at the courthouse Thursday morning, where an ecstatic Chief Executive Bill Everett was congratulating everyone involved in the project. 

"Our team that put this together, [Planning Director] Carl Hamming, [Road Department Director] Wayne Wendt, KLJ [the engineering firm the county contracted with on the grant proposal] – man, this is as good as it gets," said Everett. "The amount of effort to maintain that road, and the financial burden to the county, is immense. It's our biggest expense."

Everett said he had pitched the grant proposal in person to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, that he had driven U.S. Senator Steve Daines down the highway to show him the road's condition, and that U.S. Senator Jon Tester had made it one of his top priorities during this session of Congress – and that Tester had called him personally Thursday to offer his congratulations.

"By investing in local infrastructure we are supporting Montana communities and improving our economy," Tester said in a statement. "That's why I worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass my bipartisan infrastructure law that will create good-paying jobs by investing in Montana's roads, bridges, high-speed internet, water systems, and more. I am proud to have worked with community leaders to secure this funding to upgrade the Mill Creek Highway and look forward to seeing this project get done."

Tester's office further stated that "the Mill Creek Highway is a critical highway that connects businesses and residents of Anaconda with the Big Hole Valley. The Mill Creek Highway proposal would reconstruct and widen a 4.5-mile stretch of an S-curved road on Hwy 569.  This section of highway is in poor condition and dangerous. The project has strong support from Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, the Big Hole Watershed Group, the state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the Montana Department of Transportation."

According to the grant award, the project will include "increased travel lane and shoulder widths" and "will also address curved radii, steep elevations, and correctable slopes, as well as install guardrails, culvert and stormwater facilities, rumble strips, safety and wildlife crossing signage, and upgraded pavement markings."

The funding for the project will come from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), with ADLC agreeing to contribute another $1 million – "but we're getting $20 million worth of work," said Hamming. "And it'll save lives."

That point was underscored in the grant proposal, which showed the proliferation of crosses along the highway marking fatal accidents that had occurred on it. 

While the timeline for the project has not yet been set, Everett said he hopes that once it is completed that ADLC would be able to turn the maintenance of the highway – which is a state highway, though it's maintained by the county – over to the state, freeing up more of ADLC's road maintenance resources to be used in other parts of the county. 

To learn more about RAISE grants, visit https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants.