Construction begins on Fairview's main road

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) says one of the busiest roads in the eastern part of the state is getting a much-needed makeover.

At the height of the oil boom, Montana 200 going through Fairview was averaging 10,000 vehicles a day. Now, traffic sits at around 6,000. Deteriorating road conditions mean the project has been a high priority for several years.

Construction workers are redoing 1.8 miles of road and putting an underground storm-drain system right through the middle of Fairview. The improvements will stop seasonal flooding that makes driving on this section of highway difficult at certain times of the year.

“Big trucks would drop a lot of mud in town when there was water and create a muddy mess. We were constantly having troubles sweeping. The town of Fairview had all kinds of trouble with splashing mud up on businesses," said MDT Glendive District Projects engineer Steve Heidner.

The project costs $14.7 million, but the concrete pavement should last 30 to 50 years. There’s still a lot of work left to do.

“We are just getting started. We’ve installed the storm-drain. And the water line, the water line is completed. The storm drain should be completed next week.”

Fleming says they will maintain two lanes of traffic throughout the course of construction.

It might take a little more time to travel through Fairview for now, but the good news is the construction workers say they’re ahead of schedule and the project should be done in October.