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July 4, 2007

Commission asks Baucus for $20M

By Tom Howard

Billings (Montana) Gazette

Yellowstone County commissioners have asked Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., to set aside $20 million in the 2009 federal highway bill to make sure there's enough money to complete the Shiloh Corridor Project, which has doubled in cost to around $40 million.

Commissioner Bill Kennedy said Tuesday that the request comes as Congress begins work on the new highway bill, tentatively scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1, 2008, which is the start of the federal government's 2009 fiscal year.

Kennedy said he is confident that Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will make sure there is enough money to complete Shiloh Road, which continues to be a top transportation priority for the Billings area.

If the highway bill passes, "the timing will be right to line up all of the money necessary to pay for Shiloh Road," said Kennedy, who is also chairman of the Montana Transportation Commission.

"Max is 110 percent committed to finish the Shiloh Road project," Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said Tuesday.

Two years ago, Baucus secured a $10 million federal earmark to widen 4.5 miles of Shiloh Road between Poly Drive and the Canyon Creek Bridge.

The project includes the construction of eight roundabouts, which are circular intersections that control traffic without stoplights.

At that time, local and state officials believed the $10 million earmark would be enough to complete Shiloh Road, then estimated to cost about $20 million. But costs have risen dramatically since then. This year alone, prices for concrete, steel, fuel and asphalt have increased by about 22 percent, Kennedy said.

Shiloh Road is expected to be the focus of major commercial growth over the next decade, with up to $750 million in development planned for the area.

State and local officials are also looking for a way to pay for the Shiloh project if the 2009 highway bill is delayed or does not provide the $20 million, Kennedy said. The city and county could borrow from future federal transportation revenues that are earmarked for the community.

"We'll have to be creative," Kennedy said.

The design phase for the Shiloh Corridor Project has been under way since the Federal Highway Administration in May issued a finding of no significant environmental impact for the project. The administration's OK ended a lengthy environmental review.

In an interview with The Gazette Editorial Board, Kennedy said state and local officials are working to speed up the design process so the Shiloh Corridor Project can be put out for bid in late 2008 rather than in January 2009, as indicated in the current construction schedule, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the city and the Montana Department of Transportation are also moving forward with a plan to install a traffic signal at Zoo Drive and Gabel Road.

West End residents and business owners say the intersection has become dangerous because traffic backs up behind the stop sign on Gabel Road. At least one fatal collision has occurred at the intersection.

The city has budgeted $250,000 in its capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2008, which began Monday, to improve the intersection. But the city still needs about $100,000 to complete all improvements.

In a memo to Kennedy, MDT Director Jim Lynch said the traffic signal will be installed this year, but the state has allowed the project to be phased so modifications to the intersection can be completed in the future.

"Getting the traffic signal installed is the big thing," Kennedy said. "As they phase in other improvements, it will make the intersection a lot better."

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