Helena and MDT make headway on 'cluster on Custer,' mini-malfunction junction designs
Helena went over multiple traffic updates, including Custer Avenue's revamp and mini-malfunction junction's roundabout, at a Wednesday administrative meeting.
Custer Avenue
Helena and the Montana Department of Transportation are working together to solve the "cluster on Custer," and expect construction to start in the next five to seven years.
Custer Avenue has been one of Helena's toughest traffic points for years, and congestion is just getting worse, MDT says on its website.
MDT and the city are redesigning Custer from North Montana Avenue to Henderson Street, Transportation Systems Director Kevin Knoepke told Helena city commissioners at an administrative meeting Wednesday.
The larger project may not start for years, but current plans for improvement have a left-turn lane for east bound traffic, the MDT website says. There will also be Americans with Disabilities Act updates to the sidewalks, median changes and new pedestrian signals. The construction cost for ongoing improvements is $1,376,580, an MDT spokeswoman said. Work began Sept. 16 and will continue until Nov. 15, 2024.
One of the hiccups of any project on Custer Avenue has been navigating the resources beneath the location, the website says. Custer sits on top of a "bowl of spaghetti" of telephone cables, natural gas, sewer pipes and other delicate lines.
Once the designs for the larger project are finalized, discussion will shift to how it will be split between city and state budgets, Knoepke said.
Also in the works is moving a traffic light at Harris and Cedar streets to Sanders Avenue and Cedar.
The goal is to reduce congestion at the already busy Custer and Sanders intersection, which is expected to pick up once Chipotle and a new apartment complex open nearby.
However, plans for that will be slower coming, Knoepke said.
Mini-malfunction junction
Helena will design a new roundabout for mini-malfunction junction in the coming six to eight months.
In the meantime, the city was officially approved to keep the five-way stop as an "interim," Knoepke said.
Mini-malfunction junction is a five-way intersection on North Last Chance Gulch, Neill Avenue and Helena Avenue.
On July 15, an unknown cause did "catastrophic" damage to the traffic light system, melting the internal wires so deeply there was little chance of repair.
Helena put up stop signs as a temporary fix that has since become the tentative norm, acting like a five-way stop.
The intersection was already flagged as a potential roundabout location, but that takes time, Knoepke told commissioners months ago.
Because the roundabout will take time, MDT required the city to do an engineering study to make sure mini-malfunction junction could safely remain a five-way stop. Had it failed, Helena would've had to make the intersection safer or find an alternative solution.
The study approved the five-way stop, so the city plans to add more durable signage for the time being, Knoepke said.
An official design for a roundabout could come in the next six to eight months, so construction may need to be budgeted into the next fiscal year, he said Wednesday.
The roundabout will be designed with a smooth mound that allows large emergency vehicles and semi-trucks to pass through, and it may feature welcoming artwork as a transition point for Helena's downtown, he said.
Christine Compton is a reporter for the Helena Independent Record.
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