Crashes increasing on busy West Reserve Drive

Sirens and emergency-vehicle lights on West Reserve Drive have nearly become part of the landscape as accidents between U.S. 93 and U.S. 2 increase.

"There's so much traffic. It's the main crossroad across Evergreen into town," Montana Highway Patrol trooper Erick Fetterhoff said. "That one's a heads-up. You've got to pay attention."

He was called to West Reserve last week for another crash. A driver was cited for careless driving for rear-ending another driver who was turning onto Cheery Lynn Road. Two people were injured.

The road, posted for speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, links the east side of the valley to the Target/Home Depot development on U.S. 93, leading into Kalispell.

West Reserve is one of two main east-west routes that connect the two U.S. highways.

Kalispell Fire Chief Randy Brodehl said his ambulance crew was called to West Reserve Drive twice last week.

He said he thinks the traffic volume and the road itself are reasons for the frequency of crashes there.

"It's not exactly a straight road. The curves sneak up on you," he said.

The road also gets icy in the winter near the Whitefish River bridge, he said.

Gary Kalberg, district construction engineer with the Montana Department of Transportation in Kalispell, said traffic volume on the road is very high.

The 2003 average daily traffic count shows 12,500 vehicles between U.S. 93 and Whitefish Stage Road and 11,000 between Whitefish Stage Road and U.S. 2.

At the U.S. 2 (LaSalle Road) intersection with Reserve, 19,050 vehicles were counted.

In 1997, the daily traffic count on Reserve was 10,950 between U.S. 93 and Whitefish Stage Road and 9,990 between Whitefish Stage Road and U.S. 2.

Kalberg said the department is aware of the increased frequency of crashes on West Reserve Drive. Between July 1, 2001, and June 30, 2004, there were 91 crashes, he said. None were fatal, but 32 involved injuries and 54 involved property damage, Kalberg said.

Numbers from state highway research specialist Jack Williams show that since the early 1990s, accidents have more than tripled on West Reserve.

In 1992, there were eight crashes on West Reserve and in 1993 there were 11.

Compare that to recent years: 31 crashes in 2002 and 33 accidents in 2003.

The fire department knows there is a human component to crashes besides the engineering factor, Brodehl said. Alcohol and excessive speed have caused some of the collisions.

His department is changing its terminology from "accident" - which implies there was no avoiding a wreck - to "crash," with no such implication.

It was in the mid-1990s that development on Whitefish Stage Road began adding businesses and hundreds of new residences on the road that feeds traffic to West Reserve Drive.

Crashes also come farther to the west, where housing developments are surging beyond U.S. 93.

The bulk of serious accidents, though, seem to be concentrated at the busy U.S. 93 intersection, the site of massive retail development in the last couple of years.

"Reserve and 93 is the worst," Fetterhoff said.

Kalberg said there are "a couple of things being looked at right now" to improve safety on the road; some will happen quickly.

The road will be chip-sealed and some of the striping will change next summer, he said.

The chip seal will increase friction, giving vehicles better stopping and adhering capability.

The intersection of West Reserve Drive and U.S. 2 will be changed to include a left-turn lane and a right-turn lane from Reserve onto U.S. 2. As it is, people are turning right from the shoulder of the road, Kalberg said.

Long-term discussions about a Kalispell highway bypass include widening West Reserve Drive, he said.

For now, officials hope drivers will heed Fetterhoff's advice to pay attention.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com