Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 3.23.16

NEWS
Full Steam Ahead as Crews Work to Complete Kalispell Bypass LHC crews making progress on nal 4.5 miles of road, bridge construction
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
Crews installed bridge beams for the overpass above Old Reserve Drive last week as construction hit high gear for the nal phase of the U.S. 93 Alternate Route.
Over the last several months, crews with LHC have worked through rain and snow, moving over 750,000 yards of dirt and constructing the remaining 4.5 miles of bypass, from West Reserve Drive near Glacier High School to Foys Lake Road.
With spring’s bene cial weather, LHC crews are hitting their stride and pushing for completion by the end of November.
“Obviously a lot can happen between now and then but everybody is working toward that goal,” said Don Brummel, proj- ect manager for LHC, a local contracting
company owned by Je Claridge.
“The Claridges know how important this is to the community, and we’re mak- ing good progress. All of these folks in the eld, it’s a credit to what they’ve done and their hard work. They’ve been up to their ankles in mud and snow. The conditions they’ve worked through to keep this on
schedule is remarkable.”
Last week 98-ton beams were brought
in and installed at the overpass above Old Reserve Drive. Sletten Construction, the project’s bridge contractor, trucked in 10 113-foot-long beams from Spokane.
A total of 500,000 tons of material such as concrete is being imported for the bypass project.
The existing two-lane bypass at Foys Lake Road and the Ashley Creek area is
being widened to four lanes and bridge widening is continuing for an overpass above U.S. Highway 2.
From Foys Lake Road, the entire north side of the bypass will be four lanes, fol- lowing Interstate highway standards. The bridge at U.S. Highway 2 will be one of ve new overpasses. Nearly ve miles of new road will stretch toward Old Reserve Drive and connect with the existing phase that was completed two years ago.
Sidewalks will be built along the bypass with a trailhead at Three Mile Drive. A block sound wall will be installed from Three Mile to Four Mile Drive, where the bypass will include on and o ramps. Tra c signals are being set up at the new Four Mile Drive and Stillwater Road intersections as heavy truck tra c
picks up. Bridge embankment work and pavement section construction will be taking place and motorists should watch for truck tra c and expect delays.
“We’ve received a lot of positive feed- back from everyone,” Brummel said. “We had a very good plan going into this.”
Over $100 million has already been spent on the project, and the nal con- tract, awarded to LHC at nearly $34 mil- lion, is the largest single contract in the state’s history.
Public meetings on the progress of the bypass take place every Tuesday, begin- ning at 5 p.m., in the Glacier High School Conference Room at 375 Wolfpack Way. For more information, visit mdt.mt.gov/ pubinvolve/kalispellbypass.
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
Schools, Local Law Enforcement to Hold Active Shooter
Preparedness Training
Two-day course to prepare educators, law enforcement for an armed intruder
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
It’s a situation that no educator, stu- dent, parent or o cer ever wants to face: an armed intruder inside a school. In an e ort prepare for the worst, local educa- tion and law enforcement o cials will hold a two-day training course to prepare for that unfortunate scenario.
On March 28 and 29, teachers and o cers from across Northwest Mon- tana will gather at Flathead High School in Kalispell for a special class put on by Safariland Group. The training will take place while students are out of school on spring break.
The Kalispell Police Department is helping organize the training.
Kalispell Superintendent Mark Flatau
said the training is something he hopes local teachers never have to use but that it will be an invaluable learning experience.
“We can never be over prepared. We never know what to expect next week, next month or next year,” he said. “This is all about being prepared and having a plan.”
According to Every Town for Gun Safety, there have been 171 gun-related incidents at schools across the United States since 2013. Those statistics include incidents where multiple people were fatally shot or where weapons were unintentionally discharged on school property.
In January, a 16-year-old Flathead High student was arrested after school administrators found a loaded revolver
in his backpack. The student has since been expelled and charged with six mis- demeanors. School o cials said they did not believe the student planned on harm- ing anyone with the weapon.
On the rst day of the training, about 70 participants will learn techniques on how to respond to an active shooter. The training includes a live simulation of a shooting. On the second day, those 70 par- ticipants will share what they learned the previous day with other school o cials. Flatau said one of the bene ts of the train- ing is that once someone has gone through the course they are certi ed to teach oth- ers. Teachers from nearly every commu- nity in the Flathead Valley will attend.
Cory Clark, the resource o cer for Flathead High School, said that in the
past students and teachers were told to hide in case of a shooting. But cur- rent practices call for a three-pronged response: run, lock or ght. Clark said someone’s rst reaction should always be to run if they believe they can get away from a shooter safely. If they cannot run, people should then lock and barri- cade themselves in a room and do every- thing they can to prevent the intruder from coming in. And lastly, if there are no other options, people should try and ght the intruder. Clark said participants would learn methods of how to subdue a possible shooter.
“If someone gets into the room, we’re teaching people to ght and not be a vic- tim,” Clark said.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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MARCH 23, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
406-250-7396 www.creston re.org/auction
Country Fair
Fundraiser to benefit the Creston Fire Department
Friday, April 1st is Consignment Day.
Saturday, April 2nd, the general merchan- dise auction kicks o at 9 a.m. In addition to the auction, attendees can purchase locally made art and handicra s, pick up smaller items in the rummage sale, and sample
Creston Auction ~and~
The 50th Annual Creston Auction & Country Fair and the accompanying RV, Marine, Auto & Equipment Sale will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and April 3rd, 2016, in Creston, Montana—12 miles east of Kalispell on MT Hwy 35.
homemade goods from the bake sale. Hot food and drink are available all day. e vehicle and equipment sale begins at noon on Sunday, April 3rd. ere is no entrance fee for the auction and NO BUYER’S PREMIUM. Bid tickets cost $5 on Saturday and $10 on Sunday; all bid ticket fees go directly toward paying for auction security for the weekend.