Highway 93 work near Post Creek pushed to spring
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) More wildlife-crossing and traffic-safety work is planned for next spring on Highway 93 North, even though the Trump administration clawed back some grant money last year.
The Montana Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Kiewit Construction, will start working on the 3-mile-long Post Creek Hill Project this coming spring to improve the ability of wildlife to cross U.S. Highway 93 North and to increase traffic safety.
The 3-mile stretch extends from the intersection with Red Horn/Dublin Gulch roads to the intersection with Gunlock/Olsen roads on the Flathead Reservation. The improvements include adding a northbound climbing lane at Post Creek Hill to allow cars to safely pass slower traffic and a new bridge over Post Creek to aid wildlife crossings.
After drilling work was completed in March 2025, MDT slated the Post Creek road work for this fall. Geotechnical work was conducted between January and May this year. However, an MDT announcement issued Wednesday said the work had been rescheduled “to allow additional time for project development, including completion of final approvals.”
The Post Creek Hill Project was one of three projects planned about 5 years ago along a 10-mile stretch of Highway 93 from north of St. Ignatius through the Ninepipe Wildlife Management Area. The other two are the U.S. 93 Ninepipe and Eagle Pass Trail Safety projects north of Post Creek.
Between 2005 and 2010, the CSKT and MDT had turned Highway 93 North into the most wildlife-friendly highway in the nation. MDT widened most of the road between Evaro and Polson to accommodate increasing traffic and worked with the tribes to install 41 animal underpasses and the iconic Animals’ Bridge overpass. However, limited funding meant the 10-mile stretch through a critical wildlife area remained unfinished.
In 2022, the CSKT applied for Federal Highway Administration funding through the National Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program and was awarded $30.5 million in 2023. A portion of that was allocated to the Post Creek Hill Project. But it’s not enough to fund the original plan, which included a multi-span bridge; widening the roadway to include 8-foot shoulders; and left-turn lanes and a shared-use path. So the project was scaled back.
The tribes also applied for a Federal Highway Administration Neighborhood Access and Equity grant and were awarded almost $75 million in 2023. This money was to be used to design and reconstruct the highway in the Ninepipe area and would have covered more than 80% of the project cost. The project included three new bridges, intersection improvements, roadway widening, and wildlife fencing and accommodation.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program to fund projects that improve walkability, safety, and affordable transportation access and to modify existing transportation infrastructure that negatively affects the human or natural environment. The Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $3.2 billion for the grant program from 2022 through 2026.
However, in July 2025, the CSKT learned that the budget reconciliation law that Congress passed in early July 2025 had cancelled the majority of the Neighborhood Access and Equity grants that had been awarded but not finalized. That included the Ninepipe project.
The Eagle Pass Trail Safety improvements will move ahead since they have different sources of funding. Improvements near the intersection of US 93 and Eagle Pass Trail, which include a wildlife overpass, shared-use path, new turn-lane, and widened shoulders, are also planned for construction in 2027.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.