'Connector' should help drivers

Important road work is going to happen at the north end of Kalispell this year.

The Reserve Connector goes to bid in April and should be open for traffic by the time Glacier High School opens in the fall.

The connector is a key roadway that will start at the Stillwater Road/West Reserve Drive intersection, angle southeast around the new school and connect to U.S. 93 near Costco.

It's the first step in the long-awaited western bypass, but more importantly it's a critical piece of transportation infrastructure that will avoid what could have been major gridlock and traffic challenges around Glacier High.

The connector's western terminus will feature a surprise for most area drivers: a roundabout.

Traffic engineers have concluded that a roundabout at the Stillwater/Reserve crossing will be a safer way to manage vehicles at that troubled junction. If it succeeds in slowing traffic there, then the roundabout will serve its purpose of forcing vehicles to slow down to 15 to 20 mph, and it may ultimately help to save lives.

Many people, however, continue to be confused about how to negotiate a roundabout. Indeed, it wasn't too long ago that we had to write an editorial explaining the proper procedure for drivers entering the Costco roundabout, and we don't think it is any clearer to most people today.

In order to be truly safe, therefore, the roundabout proposal will need to be supported with some kind of public education effort. Drivers need to be confident about driving through the roundabout in order to avoid making foolish mistakes that could have very serious consequences.

Converting a former grocery store into a new county library is a tantalizing possibility.

The groceries-to-books proposal has surfaced as Flathead County looks to expand its main library branch from its cramped confines in the former post office building downtown.

The numbers make this proposal intriguing: It would cost about $11 million to buy and convert the Tidyman's building to a library - compared to about $16 million to build an entirely new library.

The Tidyman's site has some big pluses: ample parking (especially compared to five parking spots at the existing library), a great central location, enough space to more than double current library facilities, and the chance to save taxpayers $5 million.

A primary challenge is timing. The county doesn't exactly have a few million bucks available to buy Tidyman's now, and it would take some time - up to a year or more - to put some kind of bond request before voters.

Despite those obstacles, it would seem that the Tidyman's proposal is an opportunity that is well worth pursuing.