Road work crucial near new school

Looking at maps of proposed roadways around the U.S. 93/Reserve Drive vehicular vortex might lead one to conclude that Los Angeles traffic engineering is coming to the Flathead Valley.

Beyond the basic intersection, there is the proposed U.S. 93 bypass, a proposed bypass for the bypass, a frontage road that bypasses the intersection, and a connector road between Glacier High School that also bypasses the Reserve/93 junction.

That doesn't count other roads meandering south to serve neighborhoods yet to be built.

Although the arrangement appears like a spider web of highways, some such roadwork will be essential to keep the north end of Kalispell from degenerating into gridlock.

No road project may be more essential than the connector to the high school.

This four-lane connector would start at the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road and go along the north side of the high school campus. Then it would curve southeast before turning straight east and running just south of the new fire hall and Costco before connecting with U.S. 93.

The connector is just part of the complicated U.S. 93 bypass plan, but it's the part that should have the highest priority.

That's because, under the current best-case scenario, construction work on the bypass couldn't start until spring 2008 - and that is far from certain.

Glacier High School, however, opens in fall 2007.

That's a prime reason for expediting the connector road. School officials and county government are pushing for $4.2 million from Congress to get the connector built earlier, and that's a push with which we concur.

If road improvements aren't made, the 900 students at Glacier High, plus staffers, will reach the school via Stillwater Road or West Reserve Drive. In their day, those were fine, rural roads. But that day is long past.

Even with current traffic, those roads are an adventure to travel and their intersection is downright dangerous.

We are building a 21st-century high school. We should have a transportation system to match it.

We're glad that local transportation officials are recommending that the north half of the U.S. 93 bypass between Reserve and U.S. 2 be built first (there isn't enough money yet to build the whole bypass all the way south to Cemetery Road).

But we think the high school connector should be the first piece of new road built. The bypass has waited decades to be built and can wait a little longer. But our students can't wait that long for safer passage to school.