Road Closure Gates Placed Along Highway 212

Recent travelers and locals along US Highway 212 may have noticed the addition of road closure gates at several locations in Southeastern Montana, placed in the last several months by Montana Department of Transportation crews. The gates feature a swinging arm which may be moved down across the road when road closures are in effect. The gates are located at Alzada, just northwest of Broadus on Hwy 212 at the "Y", at Lame Deer, and another just west of Busby.

We discussed the gates with Shane Mintz, Montana DOT District Administrator for District 4, which is managed in Glendive and covers a huge swath of Eastern Montana, from the Canadian border to Wyoming.

Mintz informed us the gates stretch all the way across the highway, and are primarily used during severe weather road closures, but also may be used if the road is closed due to situations such as a fire, and are likely to be used during a major road construction project near Lame Deer next year.

Shane said the barriers may be operated remotely or manually, and are used in conjunction with local law enforcement to enforce the closures. In the past, the gates were basically sawhorses with warning signs affixed, and on occasion semi drivers would push them aside and drive through the closures, sometimes leading to emergency situations further down the road when they became stranded.

The barriers are located strategically at intersections where drivers may have other options to "go around" the severe roads. For example, if the Home Creek Divide between Broadus and Ashland is closed (as it was on Sunday due to a jackknifed semi in the road) and the barrier west of Broadus is in operation, semis could go around on I-94 via Hwy 59.

Mintz mentioned that Montana DOT is working with the state of South Dakota to place a permanent message board near Belle Fourche, with the goal to inform drivers of the road conditions in Montana and potential closures, in order to stem the flow of traffic before it reaches the SE MT area.