The city’s downtown drainage improvement project is continuing and road closures are shifting.
Beginning Sept. 30, the intersection of 1st Avenue South and 5th Street South, along 1st Avenue South from 5th Street South to 6th Street South will be closed for eight weeks.
First Avenue South will remain closed between 3rd and 5th Streets South, but portions will reopen in October as work progresses, according to the city.
The project is scheduled for completion by Nov. 30, weather dependent.
In March, City Commissioners approved a $3,352,727 contract to Capcon, LLC for the project.
Construction started in early June with 3rd Street South from 1st Avenue South to 2nd Avenue South closed to replace the storm drain.
Streets closed for Benefis project; downtown drainage
The closures are a phase of a larger downtown drainage improvement project designed to increase storm drain capacity and reduce downtown flooding.
This year’s phase includes work along 1st Avenue South from 3rd Street to 5th Street and along 3rd Street South from Central Avenue to 2nd Avenue South.
The city is constructing the project in sections to minimize disruptions to downtown businesses.
Some streets closed downtown for stormwater, utility improvements
This phase is also replacing two blocks of aging water mains, two blocks of deteriorated streets and ADA-compliant ramps at three intersections.
During their Sept. 16 meeting, commissioners approved a contract change to add $62,285, or 1.8 percent, to the total project cost, which is now $3,415,012.
The additional items in the change order will be paid with water utility funds, which are resident fees for drinking water.
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“The contractor has encountered several work items outside the scope of the contract These work items will need to be authorized in order to avoid costly work stoppages and keep the project on schedule,” according to the public works staff report.
The additional items include 60 feet of water main, ductile iron bends, curb stop valves and various concrete work, according to city staff.
Capcon, the city’s contractor, will provide barricades and detour signage. Access to local businesses will remain open.
For questions, contact Matt Proud in the city engineer’s office at 406-771-1258 or Bryan Gucken with Capcon at 406-899-1039.
According to the city, there’s been an increasing number of short duration, high intensity rainfall events causing flooding downtown in recent years.
A particularly problematic area has been the downtown business district, including Central Avenue, 2nd Street South, 4th Street South and 5th Street South.
“The increase in flooding frequency triggered multiple complaints from downtown businesses. Business and building owners expressed concerns with damage caused by water flooding the basements and lower levels of their facilities,” according to the city.
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Great West Engineering completed a basin study in December 2020 for the area. The study included assessments of the existing storm drainage piping and identified system deficiencies to make recommendations for improvements.
The first phase was constructed in 2024 and finalized in spring 2024 that included adding storm drain inlets and increasing underground pipe capacity on 3rd Street South from 4th Avenue South to 2nd Avenue South; 3rd Avenue South from 3rd Street South to 4th Street South; and 2nd Avenue South from 3rd Street South to 5th Street South.
This summer’s project is the second phase that will include storm drain improvements, plus water main replacement, street and ADA-compliant ramp reconstruction along 1st Avenue South from 3rd Street to 5th Street.
The project is scheduled to be completed by November.
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In their March agenda report, city staff wrote that they presented the project to downtown businesses in the area, including Hoglund’s Work and Western Wear, Ferrin’s Furniture, US Bank, Data Northwest, Great Falls Transit District, city parking garage and the 1st Avenue South private parking garage.
Several downtown business owners expressed concern about the project’s impact to their business over the summer during public meetings, to fellow business owners and to The Electric.
There was no public comment on the contract award during the March 18 commission meeting.
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During the March meeting, Commissioner Joe McKenney asked public works and the contractor to go as quickly as possible since it will have an impact to downtown businesses.
He talked about his experience as a business owner on 10th and during public improvements there many businesses closed since customers couldn’t reach them.
McKenney said many downtown businesses have competitors and will go elsewhere if customers can’t get to them.
Commissioner Rick Tryon echoed McKenney’s comments and asked who had to contract, to which staff replied that was the item they were considering awarding in that agenda item.
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Tryon said he wanted staff to make sure the contract understands the importance of the impact to downtown businesses and act accordingly.
City Manager Greg Doyon asked Chris Gaub, public works director, if downtown businesses impacted by the last major rain/flooding event had expressed concern about stormwater.
Gaub said he didn’t know off the top of his head.
Doyon told commissioners that he understood their concern but downtown businesses also have an expectation that the city will fix those stormwater issues.
This phase of the design includes a new storm main located along 1st Avenue South from 3rd Street to 5th Street.
These two blocks currently have an undersized and aging water main that was installed in the 1890s and the street needs repair, according to the city. Those portions of the project were included in this phase to minimize the number of times repairs need to done to infrastructure in the area.
This summer’s phase of the project includes:
- installing 1,900 lineal feet of storm drain
- installing 1,150 lineal feet of water main
- installing 12 curb inlets
- seven concrete manholes
- 12 ADA curb ramps
- two blocks of street reconstruction
The city received two bids for the project, ranging from $3,352,727 to $3,745,627 with Capcon submitting the low bid.
The project is being funded in part with $1,854,532.73 of federal COVID relief funds through the state and $350,000 in downtown tax increment financing funds.
Street improvements not directly associated with the storm drain work be funded with about $138,727 from the city street fund and water main improvements will use about $1,009,467.27 from the water utility enterprise fund.
The state APRA funds must be spent by Dec. 31.
