BELT — Willow Creek Road mainly serves two types of people: Belt residents and the United States Air Force.
“You know, there’s recreational sites to access on this road, so it does get quite a bit of traffic, relatively speaking,” said Walker Schearer, a resident outside of Belt.
After heavy rain a few weeks ago, two areas of the road on Dawson Hill experienced sliding.
“Since the time that I’ve lived here, which has been probably close to 12, 13 years, never seen anything such as a washout or anything like that,” Schearer said. “We’ve had some trouble in the winter, its Montana. We’re gonna have rough roads, we’re gonna have snowpack, we’re gonna have ice."
Now, Cascade County is working quickly to get the road fixed.
“Today was a day in our meeting to put the contract together,” said Jim Larson, a Cascade County Commissioner.
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Cascade County commissioners approved the proposal put forth by Shumaker Trucking & Excavation at $420 per linear foot.
Commissioner Larson said that it has priority due to the missile usage.
“It’s open now, but it’s only one lane, and that’s kind of a bad spot to be trying to get one lane traffic through there,” Larson said.
Shumaker plans on fully closing the road on Wednesday and hopes to have the project done by the end of the week.
That leaves residents like Walker forced to take the 45-minute detour back to town. Walker himself hopes it’s quicker.
“My wife’s out of town with our infant son and will be heading back and… that way she doesn’t have to make the big detour around to get back up here,” Schearer said.
Walker says the county quickly address issues on the road and is glad to see it taken care of so quickly.
