Meeting tackles bypass

Wednesday's public meeting on the proposed U.S. 93 bypass around Kalispell could turn into a battle of north vs. south.

The meeting takes place at the WestCoast Outlaw Inn from 7 to 8:30 p.m. It's expected to address which section of the $76 million project should be built first.

The overall bypass is scheduled to split away from U.S. 93 south of Kalispell, near Gardner's Auction. It would run about 8 miles to the north, crossing U.S. 2 near the west end of Appleway Drive and cutting diagonally across the Section 36 school trust property before reconnecting with U.S. 93 at the intersection with West Reserve Drive.

To date, only $30 million has been earmarked for construction. Consequently, the project will have to be built in sections until additional funding is available.

The basic choice is to build the north half, f rom U.S. 2 north to Reserve; or the south half, from Gardner's Auction north to U.S. 2.

The north half is the highest-valued option, according to a numerical ranking matrix developed by Stelling Engineers, the Great Falls firm handling all the design work for the bypass.

The Technical Advisory Committee, which oversees transportation improvements in the Kalispell area, also approved the various goals, objectives and rankings used to develop the matrix.

In June, the committee tentatively recommended that the north half of the bypass be built first.

Earlier this month, however, several downtown Kalispell business owners and Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy urged the committee to reconsider. They said the south half of the bypass should be built first to reduce truck and vehicle traffic along Main Street.

The group acknowledged that there were specific safety concerns related to the new Glacier High School near the north end of the bypass.

However, they noted that U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., is working to secure a separate appropriation for a new road, the "Reserve Loop," which would address those concerns.

The proposed new road would run southeast from the intersection of West Reserve and Stillwater Road, past the new high school, to U.S. 93 south of the new Costco. Eventually, it would loop around behind Home Depot and reconnect to West Reserve.

Burns has designated the western portion of the Reserve Loop as his top-priority road project in the state and is confident that the funding can be secured, according to Denise Smith, his Kalispell field representative.

Assuming that happens, the downtown business owners say the $30 million should be used to build the south half of the bypass because it's the only segment that gives traffic an alternative route around the downtown area.

Wednesday's public meeting will begin with a short presentation on the bypass and the process that was used to rank the different phasing options. That will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

The Technical Advisory Committee will hold another meeting on Thursday, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Kalispell City Council chambers. At that meeting the committee could make a final recommendation about which segment to build first.