INTRODUCTION (Taken from the Montana Department of Transportation Executive Summary. PDF document)
In August 2005, Congress designated the portions of MT 16 from the Port of Raymond to Culbertson and U.
S. 2 from Culbertson to the North Dakota border as segments of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway
(TRE) “High Priority Corridor.” The TRE is one of 80 corridors in the United States that have received
similar designations. The TRE makes up the northernmost segment of a 2,236 mile corridor that, together
with the Heartland Expressway and the Port to Plains Trade Corridor, compose the “Great Plains
International Trade Corridor.”
This corridor spans nine central US states, beginning in the south at the Port of Laredo in Texas and
ending in the north at the Port of Raymond in Montana. This study’s focus is the Montana segment of the
TRE corridor.
This Working Paper is a part of the U.S. 2/MT 16 Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Development Study. The
purpose of the study is to identify the economic, regulatory, or operational changes that would result in
traffic and safety conditions justifying the expansion of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway section in
Montana to a 4-lane facility.
The study includes an overview of existing opportunities for growth (economic or purely traffic related) in the
region along with impediments that could challenge that potential growth. The paper also presents an
assessment of the existing traffic conditions and their impact on the local economy. Furthermore, potential
economic developments within the area, arising from highway expansion.
The research utilizes a combination of national, regional and local data on opportunities in key industries
within the study area, namely agriculture, energy, tourism, transportation, and retail trade. Telephone
interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of existing economic conditions and opportunities for
structural changes in the regional and local economy.
The study focuses on agriculture opportunities within the study area energy, tourism, and transportation
opportunities, respectively and describes retail trade and other opportunities in the study area.
Interview Process
To gain an understanding of existing conditions in the region, interviews were carried out with local and
regional developers and planners, representatives from the grain, energy, and tourism industries,
business owners, freight forwarders and carriers, and elected officials. A total of 120 surveys were
conducted to assess how stakeholders view the role that transportation plays and will continue to play in
their industries, as well as to inform an assessment of any induced development that could arise from
general opportunities or highway improvement. There was an effort to reach out to different parts of the
community to gain a firm understanding of opportunities within the area. The sample of participants was
comprised mainly of stakeholders from companies and agencies located in Montana, North Dakota, and
Saskatchewan.
Importance of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway
The Theodore Roosevelt Expressway totals about 445 miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana
and is considered a National Highway System High Priority Corridor. High priority corridors support trade
and primarily long distance interstate and intrastate freight movement that results in high volumes of truck
traffic (North Dakota Department of Transportation, 2005).
U.S. 2/MT 16 Transportation Regional Economic Development Study
A high volume of truck traffic is already occurring on U.S. 2 and MT 16 with about 7% to 13% of the traffic
attributed to trucks. The truck volume on US 2 and MT 16 is expected to grow to 30% by 2036 compared to
a Montana state average on all highways of 5 percent.
This study finds that, as the truck traffic increases, the time spent following trucks and other vehicles is
expected to increase by up to 15% which could decrease travel speeds by 5 miles per hour on average
through Colorado, Montana, and into the provinces. Energy development, in both local activity and industry
movements through the region, are expected to place increasing demands on the highway corridor.
Tourism is significant in the area and has growth potential. The main strengths of the area tourism
industry include hunting, which is strong in the shoulder and winter seasons, and Fort Peck Lake, the
region’s premier attraction during summer, the region’s peak highway-use season.
Other tourism attractions are developing. Most visitors traveling to the area are from neighboring states,
and road infrastructure plays a critical role in attracting them. Local population is low and tourist attractions
are widely dispersed in the state. In order to have visitorship growth in the area, the growth market in
tourism is expected to be drawn from a wide radius, necessitating travel over long distances along
Montana roadways. Especially because there are readily substitutable activities in the Plains area, the
safety and attractiveness of the highway system for individuals traveling to and through the corridor are
noted as significant factors in travel market growth. Although tourism is expected to have marginal effects
on overall travel demand, highway improvements would have positive effects on this industry.
Local retail and service functions are served by urban hubs in Sidney, Plentywood, Culbertson, and
Williston. Billings is the major higher-order trade center serving the region today while Regina is by far the
largest and closest higher-order trade center, suggesting latent advantages to the local economy of
improved linkages in that direction. Local and regional agriculture and energy businesses rely on US 2
and MT 16 to transport their products to rail heads and markets. Inter-local traffic, within the regional
economy, is expected to come into increasing conflict with international traffic on the continental scale.
Because of the rural nature of the project area, the smaller communities rely on the larger towns to provide
goods and services and use US 2 and MT 16 as the major connecting routes. The largest trade center in
the region is Williston, North Dakota (population 12,200) on US 2 which is the region’s main center for
retail, professional, and financial services.
Overall, truck traffic as a percent of overall traffic is expected to reach 30% of total traffic volumes by 2036.
Many stakeholders in the region stated that new business were unwilling to locate to the area because of
the lack of a high-capacity four-lane roadway to quickly and safely transport products. This study
demonstrates that a four-lane design along the TRE corridor would, by 2036, increase total traffic on the
corridor by about 17 percent over levels forecasted for the existing two-lane configuration.
While four lane highway design options provide greater local and regional economic benefits, those
benefits alone do not appear to be large or certain enough to alone justify the selection of a four lane
highway design. Certain two lane designs, such as an improved two-lane with passing lanes, could
provide most of the same benefits.
Local and Regional Economic Importance
The quality of the TRE corridor is integral to the economic stability and growth futures of the area’s people
and communities. This corridor is the tie that binds the local communities with their broader economic
setting, which extends into North Dakota and Canada. Both US 2 and MT 16 need to effectively and
efficiently provide for the conveyance of goods, services, and people to connect and support the people and
communities of the regional economy. The main economic components of the region are agriculture,
energy, tourism, and retail trade.
Agriculture depends on truck transportation to move production from farms to transportation hubs and
intermediate value-added processors. Demand for truck transportation services is expected to increase
with growth and change in agricultural production. Overall growth in agricultural production of the area has
been consistent and significant. Changing demand (e.g., increasing markets for healthy oils and grains),
transportation practices (e.g., consolidation of grain-rail loading facilities into larger facilities), and local
processing opportunities (e.g., oil-seed processing) all suggest higher demand for truck travel within the
region.
Transportation improvements could support business expansion and market access, as well as facilitate
the hauling of products from farms to value-added processing plants. Opportunities in this sector include
different crops (e.g., pulse and oilseed) and new value-added processing (e.g., oil processing and dairy).
The remoteness of many production areas and the large distances agricultural products must be shipped
are key challenges facing local producers and are also obstacles to cost-effective transportation.
In sum, general growth and change in this sector suggests greater use of the highway corridor can be
expected. Several substantial opportunities appear to rely on the quality of the highway corridor.
Energy development, particularly in oil, has grown significantly in recent years, and best estimates suggest
that this growth trend will continue. Northeastern Montana is the largest oil exploration area in Montana,
and much of the exploration activity is concentrated within the study area. The oil industry depends on the
highway system to get workers, equipment, and supplies to the fields. While the transportation mode of
choice for oil output is via pipeline, the pipelines in the study area are running at capacity, so much of the
oil produced in the region must be trucked to domestic refineries. With the high value of oil production and
the resulting expected high growth in the oil industry within the study area over time, the oil industry is
poised to reap transportation cost savings from highway expansion. Moreover, oil development in the
Canadian provinces is very rapid, and the prospect of heavy infrastructure investments there is expected to
generate significant through-traffic along the oil-corridor spanning from Texas
Cost Estimates for Corridor Improvements & Potential Funding Sources
MDT has one major reconstruction and widening project planned on the study corridor during the next five
years. The Bainville East and West Project will reconstruct approximately 11 miles of US 2 from the North
Dakota State Line to approximately three miles west of Bainville. The environmental analysis for the project
supports an improved two-lane configuration with eight-foot shoulders, improved side slopes, and minor
changes in alignment to improve safety. The estimated construction cost of the Bainville East and West
Project is approximately $18.8 million with an additional $2.9 million in preliminary engineering, right-of-
way, construction engineering, and incidental costs for a total cost of $20.7 million, or an average of $1.84
million per mile. This project was planned so an additional two lanes could be added in the future.
Although factors such as the number of structures and right-of-way costs could affect actual improvement
costs, the estimated average costs per mile for the Bainville East and West Project provide a reasonable
basis for estimating the costs for improving the remainder of the study corridor to similar two-lane
standards as shown in the following table. Four-lane improvement costs are from the cost estimation
module of MDT’s Highway Economic Analysis Tool (HEAT). These estimates are summarized in Table 1.
The costs in this table include construction, construction engineering, contingency, and right-of-way costs
inflated out five years. Note that the cost estimates for the four lane alternatives assume the construction of
a four-lane cross-section. In many locations, including the location of the Bainville East and West Project, it
would be possible to add two lanes to the existing two lanes, depending on the condition of the roadway.
Consequently, these costs are a high estimate. More detailed design work will be needed to determine
where and if existing two-lane sections can serve as two lanes of a four lane cross-section.
These estimates also assume that within cities, the four-lane configuration would be undivided with curb,
gutter, and sidewalks to reduce impacts on the communities. Under Montana law, local officials must
approve any bypass of an incorporated community.
In August 2005, Congress designated the portions of MT 16 from the Port of Raymond to Culbertson and U.
S. 2 from Culbertson to the North Dakota border as segments of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway
(TRE) “High Priority Corridor.” The TRE is one of 80 corridors in the United States that have received
similar designations. The TRE makes up the northernmost segment of a 2,236 mile corridor that, together
with the Heartland Expressway and the Port to Plains Trade Corridor, compose the “Great Plains
International Trade Corridor.”
This corridor spans nine central US states, beginning in the south at the Port of Laredo in Texas and
ending in the north at the Port of Raymond in Montana. This study’s focus is the Montana segment of the
TRE corridor.
This Working Paper is a part of the U.S. 2/MT 16 Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Development Study. The
purpose of the study is to identify the economic, regulatory, or operational changes that would result in
traffic and safety conditions justifying the expansion of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway section in
Montana to a 4-lane facility.
The study includes an overview of existing opportunities for growth (economic or purely traffic related) in the
region along with impediments that could challenge that potential growth. The paper also presents an
assessment of the existing traffic conditions and their impact on the local economy. Furthermore, potential
economic developments within the area, arising from highway expansion.
The research utilizes a combination of national, regional and local data on opportunities in key industries
within the study area, namely agriculture, energy, tourism, transportation, and retail trade. Telephone
interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of existing economic conditions and opportunities for
structural changes in the regional and local economy.
The study focuses on agriculture opportunities within the study area energy, tourism, and transportation
opportunities, respectively and describes retail trade and other opportunities in the study area.
Interview Process
To gain an understanding of existing conditions in the region, interviews were carried out with local and
regional developers and planners, representatives from the grain, energy, and tourism industries,
business owners, freight forwarders and carriers, and elected officials. A total of 120 surveys were
conducted to assess how stakeholders view the role that transportation plays and will continue to play in
their industries, as well as to inform an assessment of any induced development that could arise from
general opportunities or highway improvement. There was an effort to reach out to different parts of the
community to gain a firm understanding of opportunities within the area. The sample of participants was
comprised mainly of stakeholders from companies and agencies located in Montana, North Dakota, and
Saskatchewan.
Importance of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway
The Theodore Roosevelt Expressway totals about 445 miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana
and is considered a National Highway System High Priority Corridor. High priority corridors support trade
and primarily long distance interstate and intrastate freight movement that results in high volumes of truck
traffic (North Dakota Department of Transportation, 2005).
U.S. 2/MT 16 Transportation Regional Economic Development Study
A high volume of truck traffic is already occurring on U.S. 2 and MT 16 with about 7% to 13% of the traffic
attributed to trucks. The truck volume on US 2 and MT 16 is expected to grow to 30% by 2036 compared to
a Montana state average on all highways of 5 percent.
This study finds that, as the truck traffic increases, the time spent following trucks and other vehicles is
expected to increase by up to 15% which could decrease travel speeds by 5 miles per hour on average
through Colorado, Montana, and into the provinces. Energy development, in both local activity and industry
movements through the region, are expected to place increasing demands on the highway corridor.
Tourism is significant in the area and has growth potential. The main strengths of the area tourism
industry include hunting, which is strong in the shoulder and winter seasons, and Fort Peck Lake, the
region’s premier attraction during summer, the region’s peak highway-use season.
Other tourism attractions are developing. Most visitors traveling to the area are from neighboring states,
and road infrastructure plays a critical role in attracting them. Local population is low and tourist attractions
are widely dispersed in the state. In order to have visitorship growth in the area, the growth market in
tourism is expected to be drawn from a wide radius, necessitating travel over long distances along
Montana roadways. Especially because there are readily substitutable activities in the Plains area, the
safety and attractiveness of the highway system for individuals traveling to and through the corridor are
noted as significant factors in travel market growth. Although tourism is expected to have marginal effects
on overall travel demand, highway improvements would have positive effects on this industry.
Local retail and service functions are served by urban hubs in Sidney, Plentywood, Culbertson, and
Williston. Billings is the major higher-order trade center serving the region today while Regina is by far the
largest and closest higher-order trade center, suggesting latent advantages to the local economy of
improved linkages in that direction. Local and regional agriculture and energy businesses rely on US 2
and MT 16 to transport their products to rail heads and markets. Inter-local traffic, within the regional
economy, is expected to come into increasing conflict with international traffic on the continental scale.
Because of the rural nature of the project area, the smaller communities rely on the larger towns to provide
goods and services and use US 2 and MT 16 as the major connecting routes. The largest trade center in
the region is Williston, North Dakota (population 12,200) on US 2 which is the region’s main center for
retail, professional, and financial services.
Overall, truck traffic as a percent of overall traffic is expected to reach 30% of total traffic volumes by 2036.
Many stakeholders in the region stated that new business were unwilling to locate to the area because of
the lack of a high-capacity four-lane roadway to quickly and safely transport products. This study
demonstrates that a four-lane design along the TRE corridor would, by 2036, increase total traffic on the
corridor by about 17 percent over levels forecasted for the existing two-lane configuration.
While four lane highway design options provide greater local and regional economic benefits, those
benefits alone do not appear to be large or certain enough to alone justify the selection of a four lane
highway design. Certain two lane designs, such as an improved two-lane with passing lanes, could
provide most of the same benefits.
Local and Regional Economic Importance
The quality of the TRE corridor is integral to the economic stability and growth futures of the area’s people
and communities. This corridor is the tie that binds the local communities with their broader economic
setting, which extends into North Dakota and Canada. Both US 2 and MT 16 need to effectively and
efficiently provide for the conveyance of goods, services, and people to connect and support the people and
communities of the regional economy. The main economic components of the region are agriculture,
energy, tourism, and retail trade.
Agriculture depends on truck transportation to move production from farms to transportation hubs and
intermediate value-added processors. Demand for truck transportation services is expected to increase
with growth and change in agricultural production. Overall growth in agricultural production of the area has
been consistent and significant. Changing demand (e.g., increasing markets for healthy oils and grains),
transportation practices (e.g., consolidation of grain-rail loading facilities into larger facilities), and local
processing opportunities (e.g., oil-seed processing) all suggest higher demand for truck travel within the
region.
Transportation improvements could support business expansion and market access, as well as facilitate
the hauling of products from farms to value-added processing plants. Opportunities in this sector include
different crops (e.g., pulse and oilseed) and new value-added processing (e.g., oil processing and dairy).
The remoteness of many production areas and the large distances agricultural products must be shipped
are key challenges facing local producers and are also obstacles to cost-effective transportation.
In sum, general growth and change in this sector suggests greater use of the highway corridor can be
expected. Several substantial opportunities appear to rely on the quality of the highway corridor.
Energy development, particularly in oil, has grown significantly in recent years, and best estimates suggest
that this growth trend will continue. Northeastern Montana is the largest oil exploration area in Montana,
and much of the exploration activity is concentrated within the study area. The oil industry depends on the
highway system to get workers, equipment, and supplies to the fields. While the transportation mode of
choice for oil output is via pipeline, the pipelines in the study area are running at capacity, so much of the
oil produced in the region must be trucked to domestic refineries. With the high value of oil production and
the resulting expected high growth in the oil industry within the study area over time, the oil industry is
poised to reap transportation cost savings from highway expansion. Moreover, oil development in the
Canadian provinces is very rapid, and the prospect of heavy infrastructure investments there is expected to
generate significant through-traffic along the oil-corridor spanning from Texas
Cost Estimates for Corridor Improvements & Potential Funding Sources
MDT has one major reconstruction and widening project planned on the study corridor during the next five
years. The Bainville East and West Project will reconstruct approximately 11 miles of US 2 from the North
Dakota State Line to approximately three miles west of Bainville. The environmental analysis for the project
supports an improved two-lane configuration with eight-foot shoulders, improved side slopes, and minor
changes in alignment to improve safety. The estimated construction cost of the Bainville East and West
Project is approximately $18.8 million with an additional $2.9 million in preliminary engineering, right-of-
way, construction engineering, and incidental costs for a total cost of $20.7 million, or an average of $1.84
million per mile. This project was planned so an additional two lanes could be added in the future.
Although factors such as the number of structures and right-of-way costs could affect actual improvement
costs, the estimated average costs per mile for the Bainville East and West Project provide a reasonable
basis for estimating the costs for improving the remainder of the study corridor to similar two-lane
standards as shown in the following table. Four-lane improvement costs are from the cost estimation
module of MDT’s Highway Economic Analysis Tool (HEAT). These estimates are summarized in Table 1.
The costs in this table include construction, construction engineering, contingency, and right-of-way costs
inflated out five years. Note that the cost estimates for the four lane alternatives assume the construction of
a four-lane cross-section. In many locations, including the location of the Bainville East and West Project, it
would be possible to add two lanes to the existing two lanes, depending on the condition of the roadway.
Consequently, these costs are a high estimate. More detailed design work will be needed to determine
where and if existing two-lane sections can serve as two lanes of a four lane cross-section.
These estimates also assume that within cities, the four-lane configuration would be undivided with curb,
gutter, and sidewalks to reduce impacts on the communities. Under Montana law, local officials must
approve any bypass of an incorporated community.
General web site: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/us2tred/
Current study table of contents w links: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/us2tred/tred_report.shtml
Public comment site: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml?project=US%202/MT%2016%20TRED%20Study
Current study table of contents w links: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/us2tred/tred_report.shtml
Public comment site: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml?project=US%202/MT%2016%20TRED%20Study
A high volume of truck traffic is already occurring on U.S. 2 and MT 16 with about
7% to 13% of the traffic attributed to trucks. The truck volume on US 2 and MT 16
is expected to grow to 30% by 2036 compared to a Montana state average on all
highways of 5 percent.
7% to 13% of the traffic attributed to trucks. The truck volume on US 2 and MT 16
is expected to grow to 30% by 2036 compared to a Montana state average on all
highways of 5 percent.
The Road to Mexico Passes
through Sheridan County
through Sheridan County
| Theodore Roosevelt Expressway |
The following are highlights taken from a variety of documents prepared by the Montana Department of Transportation regarding
the proposed highway system that comprises the Great Plains International Trade Corridor. A major portion of the system,
Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, passes the entire length of Sheridan County on Montana Highway 16, to State Highway 2. The
final date for public comments was held on December 7. We will be provide the results of those comments and other updates as
they become available and welcome your comments through our blog page. Below are links that will take you directly to the
MDOT website for the complete picture and a comment form sheet that you can fill out and send right online.
the proposed highway system that comprises the Great Plains International Trade Corridor. A major portion of the system,
Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, passes the entire length of Sheridan County on Montana Highway 16, to State Highway 2. The
final date for public comments was held on December 7. We will be provide the results of those comments and other updates as
they become available and welcome your comments through our blog page. Below are links that will take you directly to the
MDOT website for the complete picture and a comment form sheet that you can fill out and send right online.
The study
focuses on
agriculture,
energy, tourism,
and transportation
opportunities,
respectively and
describes retail
trade and other
opportunities.
The quality of the
TRE corridor is
integral to the
economic stability
and growth
futures of the
area’s people and
communities.
Tourism is
significant in the
area and has
growth potential.
The main
strengths of the
area tourism
industry include
hunting, which is
strong in the
shoulder and
winter seasons,
and Fort Peck
Lake, the region’s
premier attraction
during summer,
the region’s peak
highway-use
season.
Energy
development,
particularly in oil,
has grown
significantly in
recent years, and
best estimates
suggest that this
growth trend will
continue.
Northeastern
Montana is the
largest oil
exploration area
in Montana, and
much of the
exploration
activity is
concentrated
within the study
area.
focuses on
agriculture,
energy, tourism,
and transportation
opportunities,
respectively and
describes retail
trade and other
opportunities.
The quality of the
TRE corridor is
integral to the
economic stability
and growth
futures of the
area’s people and
communities.
Tourism is
significant in the
area and has
growth potential.
The main
strengths of the
area tourism
industry include
hunting, which is
strong in the
shoulder and
winter seasons,
and Fort Peck
Lake, the region’s
premier attraction
during summer,
the region’s peak
highway-use
season.
Energy
development,
particularly in oil,
has grown
significantly in
recent years, and
best estimates
suggest that this
growth trend will
continue.
Northeastern
Montana is the
largest oil
exploration area
in Montana, and
much of the
exploration
activity is
concentrated
within the study
area.
Local area Route
Click on map for expanded view
Great Plains International Trade Corridor
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__________________________________________________________________________________________
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- Environment
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Eastern Montana Economic
Solutions and Opportunities
Solutions and Opportunities
