Roads & Bridges

Winter season is upon us. Please drive with extreme caution and give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination. We will be doing all we can to keep the county roads safe. We only sand intersections, hills, and curves. Safe travels and enjoy the winter.

REMINDER

Studded Snow Tires are Legal from October 1st through May 31st.

Services

Approach Permit

An Approach Permit is needed for any new driveway or upgrades to an existing approach onto a county roadway.

Encroachment Permit

An Encroachment Permit is needed to work on the county road or to work within the County right-of-way.

Snow and Ice Removal

From October 1st through March 31st, County roads are cleared of snow and ice. We DO NOT utilize a "Bare Pavement" removal process.

Dust Cost Share Program

The Dust Cost Share Program is set up to share cost of dust abatement with the county and residence on qualifying county roadways.

About

Flathead County Road and Bridge Department is a department within the county government that is under the direct control of the Flathead County Board of County Commissioners.

The Road and Bridge Department is divided into the following three sub-departments. Included in these paragraphs are a brief overview of the department and its responsibilities.

The geographical range of county roads and bridges is:

Northern edge: North Fork to the Canadian border
Eastern edge: Essex to Ferndale to Bigfork
Southern edge: Bigfork to Lakeside to Nirada to Thompson River
Western edge: Thompson river to Pleasant Valley to Olney

Road Department

Maintenance operations consist of snow plowing in the winter months, general road maintenance, and major construction projects in the non-winter months. Monitoring traffic safety is a major concern. Some of the other areas of responsibility are encroachments for utility installations, approach encroachments, road reviews for subdivisions, etc.

Bridge Department

Maintains approximately one hundred (100) bridges and approximately seven hundred (700) culverts, cattle passes, and cattle guards. They install and maintain all guardrails. There are several dikes within Flathead County, which they are required to maintain.

County Shop

The shop maintains approximately two hundred and ninety (290) county-owned vehicles and pieces of equipment which are operated by Road, Bridge, Shop, Sheriff, Commissioners, Animal Control, Mountain Climber, Health/Sanitation, Juvenile Detention, County Attorney, and the Disaster and Emergency Services Departments. All aspects of vehicle maintenance and repairs are performed.