Some citizens say they have concerns about a project on Highway 212, the Beartooth Highway at mile marker 57.7.
They do not know the cost and what is happening.
Crews are working on removing dirt and rock in an area that is being further repaired after the flooding in 2022.
“Last year we moved the road away from the embankment, and now we have to go back in and soften the slope so that future flooding events won't take out the road,” said Charity Burns, Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) public information officer.
Softening the slope and decreasing the decline will allow equipment to get down safely to Rock Creek to put rip-wrap on the banks.
The rip-wrap will shore up the banks, but some do not like the idea.
“When you rip wrap, it's going to mess up the channel,” said David Arthun. "It's going to compensate it for it downstream.
Arthun is a scientist and lives in Joliet.
He's also concerned about the truckloads of dirt that will be hauled through Red Lodge to get to the pit.
“Traffic, especially during the tourist season, because we're starting to get tourists to come through, and that's going to disrupt the tourists possibly,” Arthun said.
Arthun says the MDT has not been able to tell him the cost of the project.
“It started out as a $5.9 million project,” said Susan Lenard, a former biologist with MDT. “The project received change orders, more than $22 million. So the project, as I understand it, is over $28 million.”
Lenard says this part of the project will cost a little more than $3 million.
She resigned from MDT three weeks ago because she says her questions and concerns were not addressed.
“The lack of transparency and public funds on public land, and it should have been absolutely clear to anyone interested in what was going on,” Lenard said.
Lenard cannot find a record of the public meetings, and she says many in Red Lodge do not know about this project.
“It didn't make sense and it seemed like they were forcing the issue and trying to justify their proposed design rather than giving what was true as to what was happening there,” Lenard said.
The MDT would not comment on Lenard's reason for resigning and says it has been working with agencies on environmental analyses.
“We have professionals that work at MDT and stand behind their work,” Burns said. “We double-check what the consultants are providing to us.”
But Leonard and Arthun say they're not satisfied with what they're hearing.
“In my opinion, they were not straightforward with just giving an answer,” Arthun said.
