On Wednesday U.S. Rep Ryan Zinke visited the Ricketts Road project site in Hamilton.
Zinke secured $1 million in grant funding for the two-mile reconstruction project, which he discussed with Ravalli County commissioners in April of 2024.
Earlier this month, commissioners approved a $1.4 million project bid from the Knife River Corporation who are slated to begin work this fall. The renovation and reconstruction will include resurfacing a majority of the road, widening edges, adding culverts and more. The road has not been resurfaced in 25 years.
“Work includes complete pulverization and reclamation of existing asphalt surfacing, demolition of existing facilities, excavation and embankment, irrigation ditch facilities, roadway base installation, asphalt paving, signing, striping, restoration and related work in accordance with the plans and specifications,” according to Ravalli County’s project description for the bid.
Zinke spoke with Ravalli County Road Administrator John Horat and commissioner Jeff Burrows at the project site, saying that it was important to invest in smaller scale county projects like Ricketts Road.
“The counties are falling apart,” Zinke said. “So my focus is the county. I talk to the county commissioners and I do whatever I can to support the counties.”
Zinke was recommended the renovation project in 2024 by Ravalli County Commissioners, who noted the road as a high traffic area in need of significant repair.
Horat said the road was the “highest traffic, worst condition road in the county.”
“Look at this road,” Burrows said. “It’s had smear jobs on top of it just to hold it together…With the budget that we have it probably would have been a quick overlay to hold it together for a few more years.”
Horat told the Ravalli Republic that the project has been a high priority for the county and that without grant funding, the project’s timeline would have been much longer. The project is currently projected to begin with new culvert installation this fall and reach substantial completion by spring of 2026, according to Horat.
“It’s been a high priority, but just something that we couldn’t get to because of the nature of it being so big,” Horat told the Ravalli Republic. “By the time the project is done with wetland mitigation and engineering it will probably be $1.6 million.”
Horat told commissioners at their Sept. 4 meeting that the county would have to “figure out” where other funds for the project would come from because Zinke’s grant only covered $1 million.
“I think the county commissioners are the front line,” Zinke said about securing funding for the project. “This is what they prioritize and so I said I’ll do what I can to match their priority.”
Zinke said in a press release that he is still trying to secure additional infrastructure funding for Ravalli County and other counties across the state.
Other Ravalli County projects included in the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill include $2.5 million for the Ravalli County Wastewater Treatment Plant, $1 million for Groff Lane Bridge Replacement and $1 million for Old Corvallis Road Repair.
“Not every dollar spent by D.C. is a waste, much of it is needed investment and infrastructure is investments. The Montana investments secured in this year’s transportation appropriations bill includes some of my top priorities. These are projects I’ve been working on with community leaders and county commissioners for months and in some case years,” said Zinke in his press release.
The bill has been introduced and is slated to be sent to the House of Representatives for a vote.
Jackson Kimball is the local government reporter for the Ravalli Republic.
You must be logged in to react.
Click any reaction to login.
Love
0
Funny
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0
Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Jackson Kimball
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today