Community on the path
to safer strolls
Evergreen Community Partners are paving the way for a new pedestrian path in their community. Since the project was approved by the county commissioners in August, the group's fundraising efforts have raised all the matching money needed - $56,000 - for a $344,000 federal grant for the Evergreen Trails Project from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program.
In a letter to the Inter Lake, Ted Tiegs, principal at Evergreen Junior High School, says the project has the potential to be the largest plan in making the area safe for students.
On any given day, nearly 100 bikes are parked outside the school, and the number of kids who walk to school bumps up the pedestrian traffic even more, Tiegs writes. "The situation becomes even more dangerous in the low-light winter months."
The Evergreen Community Partners united, circled the wagons and launched a strategy to raise the grant match for a path along East Evergreen Drive:
-In January, a pancake breakfast buffet brought in $2,000.
-In March, the Paving the Way with Prime Rib dinner and auction packed the Moose Lodge and raised $15,000, thanks to all the businesses that donated auction items.
-In September, an ice-cream social hosted by the Evergreen Business and Property Owners Association collected $1,000.
-Semitool and the Plum Creek Foundation each have stepped up and committed a $5,000 donation.
Harmon applauds Insty-prints, Schellinger Construction and Tom Sands of Sands Surveying for all the time and services they've donated; and for all who really have come through for this community path.
Initial plans indicate that the engineering study will begin in August and that Phase I of the 1.1 mile-long path alongside East Evergreen Drive from U.S. 2 East to Helena Flats may be completed by spring 2007 or sooner, when the federal paperwork is in place.
Phase II on West Evergreen is in the early planning stages and may include an overhead walkway across LaSalle to connect to the East Evergreen path.
Harmon points out that at least 3,000 cars travel West Evergreen Drive a day as a connector between Whitefish Stage and U.S. 2. "At 7:45 a.m., vehicles and bikes are crossing paths, and traffic is backed up at the light trying to turn," she says. "It's crazy. [It's] a heart attack waiting to happen."
Other safety measures in Evergreen are the crosswalk that is being installed on Montana 35 at Shady Lane, and a stoplight that will be installed there by June 1 .
Tiegs thanks board members - Darla Harmon, Lisa Lake, Kelly Magness, Alan Gilbertson, Aaron Guymon, Bret Birk, Kerry Finley and Susan Wigle - for their extraordinary efforts in getting the Evergreen Trails Project off the ground.
"Their optimism, commitment to safety for our children, and 'can do' attitude will lead to a safer environment for our students for many generations," he writes. "They are a testament to what can be accomplished by a dedicated group of individuals with a vision for our community. On behalf of our current students and students to come, thank you!"