BUTTE — If you’re traveling through Butte or Bozeman, you’ll be happy to know that the interstate system is a little bit safer thanks to the completion of a project by the Montana Department of Transportation that helps to reduce the severity of crashes and fatalities from oncoming traffic.
"So the improvements that were made on the interstate through Butte and through Bozeman was for high tension cable rail system, and what that system was designed for was for safety in mind," says Dave Cunningham, the MDT Butte District construction engineer.
Cunningham says the high-tension cable system is one component of the Vision Zero Project that aims to eliminate injuries and fatalities on Montana highways. He says the cable rail is better at absorbing the impact of a crash while redirecting vehicles from heading into oncoming traffic.
"That cable rail is more flexible. It’s gonna basically take all the energy from the car, slow that car down, and then redirect it so it does not cross the median," says Cunningham.
Since the median cable rail system was installed along I-90 west of Billings, MDT reports seeing a 90% reduction in cross-median crashes despite an increase in traffic. MDT also says that the cable system that was installed in Bozeman last year has seen 48 hits and more than half of those crashes could have crossed the median into oncoming traffic.
"I think the reason people should care about this, is this is really designed for safety. It’s really going to reduce major injuries and fatalities on our highway system by reducing that conflict with traffic going over and actually having head-ons with oncoming traffic," says Cunningham.
The project is federally funded and costs over $18 million. Once the project is completed in Missoula and Helena, the high-tension cable rail will span approximately 150 miles.
