Has anyone taken a large motorhome across highway 2 in Montana? I heard the road is ok, but there might be construction. Any recent travelers who can help me out?
QUOTE(laddy07 @ Aug 1 2007, 11:16 AM) [snapback]7870[/snapback] Has anyone taken a large motorhome across highway 2 in Montana? I heard the road is ok, but there might be construction. Any recent travelers who can help me out? Laddy: Funny I should read the above e-mail while I am sitting at Freightliner in South Dakota, waiting to get my motorhome repaired.The repairs are necessitated by the roads in Montana. They have this practice there of tearing up both sides of the road for long, long distances when they are repaving the road so, in effect, you can end up driving 15-20 miles across a rutted, heavily-travelled dirt road with no gravel or rock or cement on it--just huge ruts and bumps. We picked up so much mud and crap that our radiator and cooling system was blocked, resulting in overheating. Wyoming also follows this practice. Dumbos. Don't they consider the damage and discomfort to the travelling public? Makes you wonder which contractors paid off whom. But to answer your specific question, we travelled Highway 2 all the way from Kalispell to East Glacier and had no problems on that road.
Beastdriver, The same reason you are sitting at Freightliner is the reason I wrote about the tar. Not only do they tear the road up, they also spray it with tar and it makes a mess. The only place we encoutered this practice was on I90 between Butte and Bozeman. Some people we talked to in Coram said they also encountered this problem on their way to West Glacier from Washington state. I have been working all day to try to remove the tar from the RV, I haven't even started on my truck.
Tearing up both lane for long sections is also done in the Dakotas. Chip and oil is done in many states out west on their secondary roads. I believe the reason the" Dumbos" do things that way is it is cheaper and faster. Remember they have a very short season to work on their roads and it happens to be the same season most of us want to use them. Kerosene works well removing tar.
One can find information on road construction thru various links on www.mtgov website. Suggest writing an email to the Governor of MT letting him know about the concerns. http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentform.asp Tourism is big bucks to the state and they may listen.
I lived in Montana most of my life and know the problems of road construction. The construction season is short and repairs have to be made during the tourist season for that reason. Costs also come into the picture. Montana has a population of 925,000 people, and there is no sales tax. So the population has to pay through taxes the costs of the State's burden of road repairs. I realize gas taxes pay for some, but the burden of maintaining the 4th largest state still falls to 925,000 people. Hwy 2 is like any 2 lane highway. It is scenic, but has to be driven with caution. It is narrow in places, and traffic can back up behind slower rigs. It is not an interstate and should not be driven at interstate speeds. Be prepared to take your time and enjoy all the small communities along the "Hi-Line".
