Town Center passes board hurdle

Traffic-light status unresolved

The number of U.S. 93 traffic lights for Glacier Town Center is now up to the Kalispell City Council.

The Kalispell Planning Board recommended Tuesday that the council approve zoning modifications and preliminary plans for the first phase of the high-profile project.

But the board deadlocked on traffic lights on two of Glacier Town Center's three proposed access roads along U.S. 93 North.

So the board chose to leave that decision to the council.

The council is scheduled to be briefed on the board's recommendations Monday at a workshop session at which no votes are legally allowed.

The council won't be able to act on the project until January at the earliest.

Wolford Development Montana wants to build a commercial-and-residential project on 485 acres north of West Reserve Drive and east of U.S. 93.

The centerpiece would be a 577,000-square-foot outdoors shopping complex.

The board is OK with most of Wolford Development's plans for the site, but the developer and board split on two traffic-related matters.

The plans call for Rose Crossing to be extended from Whitefish Stage Road to U.S. 93.

The board recommended Tuesday that the site's northern side have six access roads from Rose Crossing. Wolford Development wants to build only four.

The stickiest matter involves three proposed access roads leading from U.S. 93 into Glacier Town Center's west side.

One would be the extended Rose Crossing. A second would lead into the center of the shopping complex. A third would enter the site's southwestern corner.

The Planning Board wants the fewest traffic lights possible between West Reserve Drive and Whitefish.

That's because the future U.S. 93 Bypass around western Kalispell would connect with U.S. 93 at West Reserve Drive. And the board wants fast, unimpeded traffic to flow between Whitefish and the bypass.

"We create a bypass to get around Kalispell and then dump the traffic in a sea of red lights," board chairman Bryan Schutt said.

Board member Rick Hull said: "I want the City Council and others to know we're deadly serious about keeping that corridor open."

However, board members also noted that the City Council set up Kalispell's urban growth plans to accommodate Glacier Town Center - indicating that the council wants the shopping complex and neighboring homes at that site.

"We don't like it," board member Butch Clark said of the traffic-light plans. "But we've got to make the project work."

The Montana Department of Transportation plans to put:

. A traffic light at the Rose Crossing intersection.

. A T-shaped intersection at the central access road that would allow turns in any direction except left onto U.S. 93. This is called a "three-quarters intersection."

. A traffic light at the site's southernmost intersection.

However, the state usually defers to a city's highway-related wishes if safety is not compromised.

On Tuesday, the board recommended that the council:

. Require Wolford Development to set aside a couple of acres at the Rose Crossing intersection. The idea is that land would be available for other types of intersections - including an expensive one in which the two roads cross at different heights - if state and city studies call for a change. That arrangement would remain in place for three years.

. Convert the central access road's three-quarter intersection so only northbound traffic can enter and leave that street. The idea is to avoid left turns across a busy U.S. 93.

The board split on several 3-3 votes on ways to replace one or two of the proposed traffic lights at Rose Crossing and the southernmost access road.

Schutt, John Hinchey and Rick Hull supported the traffic-light-removal scenarios. Clark, Jim Williamson and Robyn Balcom balked at those plans. Clark contended that the Rose Crossing and south access road lights would likely be the only ones blocking through traffic on U.S. 93 north of West Reserve Drive.

The potential tie-breaking vote, Kari Gabriel, was absent.

Hull, Williamson, Clark and Balcom voted to recommend approval of the zoning modifications and preliminary plans with the traffic light matter left open for the council. Schutt and Hinchey voted against the recommendations because of the traffic light issue.

Chad Wolford of Wolford Development Montana summed it up: "The important thing from my viewpoint is that we're moving on."

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com