Bypass heads to bid

The final property owners along the U.S. 93 Bypass route around Kalispell have come to an agreement with the state highway department on selling their land.

That means part of the long-awaited $34 million to $38 million project may go to bid early next month.

After a summer of intense negotiations with a string of property owners, by the first of this month only one family owned property had remained on the state's must-acquire list for bypass right of way.

Now, all four family members who share ownership of that land have agreed to terms of the sale, a family spokesman told the highway department official heading negotiations.

"I think everything we need to get arranged, we've got arranged for the last property," Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch said Tuesday.

By midafternoon, Lynch said the contract still was being circulated to get all necessary signatures.

"Now we're waiting for the Corps of Engineers," which must issue what Lynch called a 404 Permit for stormwater design. "They said it would be the end of the month, so we set a tentative bid letting for Nov. 5."

That's the regular date the state highway commission has scheduled for bid openings on any state highway project that's ready to move forward.

Last month Lynch asked to be included in that Thursday's bid-letting list, just in case the bypass project could be bid by then. Once on the docket, it could be pushed back as necessary.

Contractors already have information needed to prepare bids, he said. With a few days' notice, they could present them for bid opening at the Nov. 5 meeting of the state transportation commission.

So if all family signatures are on the contract even a few days before Nov. 5 and if the 404 Permit comes through, the project is a go.

Lynch said his office would take all bids into consideration and make a recommendation for contract award to the commissioners by Nov. 10 or 17. They give final approval.

Typically the highway department then issues the successful bidder a 10-day notice to proceed, but Lynch said work could begin immediately after the commission's decision if the contractor is ready.

That means construction could begin as early as mid-November.

Initially the south half of the bypass - stretching from U.S. 93 in south Kalispell to U.S. 2 in west Kalispell near Appleway Drive - was going to be built in three projects, divided at Airport Road and Foy's Lake Road.

But Lynch said it has been condensed to two projects.

One segment, from U.S. 2 West to the north end of Airport Road, is the project that's on the Nov. 5 docket.

The other segment, from Airport Road to U.S. 93 South, is scheduled for bidding in December.

Weather will determine a lot of what happens as this project heads into winter. Lynch said it depends on the contractor's sequencing, but crews could do excavation, soil stabilization and similar work.

"If it gets real cold, obviously we'll shut it down," he said.

Kalispell's Public Works Director Jim Hansz already received budget authority to move city water and sewer lines in two locations and extend them in a third, clearing the way when bypass work itself gets under way. That work is being done a year earlier than expected.

Overall, the south half of the bypass is expected to cost between $34 million and $38 million. Lynch didn't want to break it down into projects costs for the two individual segments being bid in November and December.

But "bidding has been pretty competitive across the state this year," he said.

The two segments can start simultaneously.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com