Montana’s Madison River Valley is designated as a Blue Ribbon Fishery by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, much of it is accessed by crossing Varney and Blaine Spring Creek Bridges, both built in the late 1800’s. Deemed structurally insufficient, in 1994 the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) began the process to upgrade the bridges but local residents did not support the project due to improvements not reflecting the history of the area. Residents agreed to revisit the upgrades under the condition original “historic-looking” bridges would be constructed. Madison County, MDT, and Great West Engineering partnered to complete the bridge and road designs.