Rocky Point residents worry about traffic impact of casino
Community members interested in traffic at the Rocky Point Road/Irvine Flats intersections with Hwy. 93 attended a meeting with Lake County Commissioners and Montana Department of Transportation staff last Monday. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)
More than 15 people interested in traffic on Hwy. 93 near Irvine Flats Road and Rocky Point Road attended a meeting at the Lake County Courthouse last Monday with Bob Vosen from the Montana Department of Transportation.
Their concern was safety, especially in light of S&K Gaming’s new 400 Horses Casino, which also broke ground last week on Irvine Flats Road.
Traffic on Highway 93 from the bridge to Rocky Point Road is already busy, and complicated by intersections with Regatta Road, Shoreline Drive, Irvine Flats Road, as well as turn outs for businesses such as the UPS Store, Lane’s Boot & Saddle, Three Dog Down, Small Town Girl Coffee, and The Shoe.
Concerns were also expressed about the uptick in construction traffic as the casino building project gets underway.
Audience members inquired about a traffic light or a left-turn lane.
Commissioner Gale Decker suggested reducing the speed limit to 45 miles per hour past the turnoff to the Rocky Point Road turn-off.
Rocky Point Road has 1,200 cars a day coming in to Hwy. 93, according to Vosen, quoting an MDT traffic study from 2023. On Hwy. 93 in that area, the study tracked traffic at 8,500 cars per day; in 2022 there were 8,300.
Rocky Point resident Jan Smith-Kasson reiterated that this figure was from the 2023 study.
“Don’t you have some concerns about safety?” asked Smith-Kasson, mentioning that the casino and other new businesses would add more traffic.
“Of course, I have safety concerns,” Vosen said. “I have 30 intersections on my white board at work. I've got a little bit of money and a whole lot of problems.”
MDT uses a benefit cost analysis, Vosen explained, and so far, there is not a crash trend at the Rocky Point Road intersection. There are “many, many intersections on Hwy. 93 with higher traffic” so MDT has to be judicious, he said.
Commissioner Bill Barron, who lives on Rocky Point, said getting on or off the highway there is already “pretty problematic. I just find it really amazing that there isn’t going to be a left-turn lane.”
“At this point with Phase 1 (of 400 Horses Casino), the traffic won’t be such that it will require intersection improvement,” Vosen said.
Since the City of Polson annexed the tribal land for 400 Horses, Vosen suggested the city could send a formal letter requesting them to consider a speed study in the area of the Rocky Point and Irvine Flats intersection.
He also said “a couple of billion” would fix all the traffic problems that western Montana faces. Meanwhile, he said MDT is working “with limited budgets and tremendous need.”