Noxon meeting urges community to contact legislators about bridge

Residents from across the county got together last Saturday to discuss the Noxon bridge. The meeting was attended by about 25 people, including county commissioners Dan Rowan and Tony Cox, as well as Steve Howke from Rep. Ryan Zinke's office.

The commissioners talked to residents, who came from Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Noxon and Heron for the update, about efforts to start planning for the bridge replacement. "We're going to see what else we can do as a contingency plan to keep using the bridge until it can be replaced," Rowan said, adding that they are still getting reports of overweight vehicles going over the bridge and vehicles going faster than the 10 mph posted speed limit. The county recently moved the speed limit signs closer to the bridge entrances and added orange flags to draw attention to the speed limit. "Moving the signs and adding the orange flags helped a lot," meeting organizer Andrew Cabbacang said.

Rowan also said he talked with the Army Corps of Engineers, but said the agency cannot provide much help in replacing or repairing the bridge. "If the abutments or supporting structure washes away, that is when they would likely get involved," he stated. Rowan stressed that "we need a good permanent fix, not a patch" for the bridge. He said he's heard from people that they love the bridge and the nostalgia. "Safety trumps nostalgia," Cabbacang said.

Cox said the county has $4 million set aside to start work, but with the Bridge Improvement Program (BIP) funding, any work done before the grant is awarded cannot be used as matching funds. The commissioners set aside the funding as the BIP grants require a local match. "That's frustrating because the more shovel ready we are, the more competitive our grant application will be," Cox stated.

Cox also said it's frustrating how long everything takes. "Anything you can do - emails, phone calls - it all helps," he said, referring to community members contacting legislators to help make them aware of the project and the need for funding. "This is important. Our representation should be here. It's not a Democrat or a Republican thing, it's a needed thing." Howke, from Rep. Zinke's office, was the only legislative representative at the meeting last Saturday. Cabbacang said he received a letter from Governor Gianforte's office, but had not heard from state legislators Rep. Paul Fielder or Sen. Greg Hertz, or Sen. Steve Daines. "You need to contact everyone from us to the state and federal. The more they hear it, the more it gets to the right person," Cox told community members.

"The commissioners have been phenomenal in moving things forward," Howke said. He talked about Community Funding Projects (CFPs) that congressional representatives submit each year. He said the projects for 2023 were not approved until spring of 2024, and that the projects for 2024 are still on hold. He added that he is working with the Sanders County commissioners and doing the groundwork to submit a CFP for the Noxon bridge.

"It's a process and it is not easy, but if you have somebody fighting for you, it helps," Howke said, adding that Rep. Zinke is pushing hard for the Noxon project. "That's a testament to his belief that this is an important issue." Howke said when the bridge closed in July, he and a representative from Zinke's D.C. office went with Commissioner Cox on the back roads from Trout Creek to Heron. "It's so unsafe. It gave us a perspective of how important that bridge was," Howke commented.

Howke also talked about the community recovering from the February 2024 fire, economic development in the area and that there may be funds for other community-based projects. "How do we get economic development without the bridge being fixed?" asked Kat King of Trout Creek, whose son attends Noxon schools and rides the bus to Noxon each day. "The community can't rebuild until there's access to rebuild it."

After hearing from representatives, Cabbacang gave information to community members about how to contact other legislators. "It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of noise." Cabbacang said for community members to personalize letters and gave a sample letter. "We already know the commissioners and Rep. Zinke are on board. Let's get everyone on board."