Highway 200 construction nearly finished for 2008
Boats are being winterized and golf clubs are being packed up. Accompanying the end of those summertime activities is the end of another summertime construction season. The first phase of the State Highway 200 project is nearly complete, according to Terry Burke, vice president of project contractors Gratech Company, Ltd., Berthold, a phase that included widening Highway 200 between Hazen and Beulah to include 8-foot shoulders. The crews should finish laying down one 2.5-inch layer, or lift, of asphalt by early next week, Burke said. The company overshot the project’s Oct. 11 deadline and is incurring penalties. The specifics of the penalties are "still under negotiation," Burke said. The North Dakota Department of Transportation plans to apply the final asphalt lift early next construction season, Burke said. The one lift of asphalt is absolutely equipped to handle traffic at normal speeds, said NDDOT Project Engineer Ted Heinert. In the road construction’s next phase, one more lift will most likely be laid down on the highway and shoulder, he added. The project will extend along Highway 200 from west Hazen to the intersection of Highway 200 and State Highway 49 near Beulah. A few improvements will be made, such as lengthened turn lanes, Heinert said. Two businesses between Beulah and Hazen endured the brunt of the 2008 summer construction season: RDO Equipment Company and Buffalo Hill Veterinary Clinic. Traveling west from Hazen on Highway 200, the road is now paved all the way to RDO Equipment Company’s approach – a relief to RDO Store Manager Bill Tveit.
