Changes needed at busy school intersection
Goal is to make Evergreen Junior High safer for students
Improving the intersection of U.S. 2 and Evergreen Drive and reconfiguring a parking lot are two short-term measures Evergreen School District can implement to make its junior high safer for students, according to a study by Helena-based engineering firm Robert Peccia & Associates.
The firm's Safe Routes to School study, which contains detailed data and analyses of traffic conditions in Evergreen, goes to press this week.
Transportation planner Jeff Key, who also is heading up the Kalispell Area Transportation Plan, presented the study's findings at a special parent-teacher organization meeting last week.
Hazards around Evergreen schools include vehicles traveling faster than posted speeds and heavy truck traffic. The latter especially has affected the U.S. 2 and Evergreen intersection, Key said.
"When truck traffic is higher than 5 percent, it affects the function of the intersection," he said.
On U.S. 2, trucks make up between 8 and 14 percent of the traffic.
The intersection is problematic anyway. East and West Evergreen are poorly aligned, and a left-turn base may be necessary in the future since the highway's status as a major arterial isn't likely to change.
Fixing those problems could cost upwards of $400,000, Key said. It's out of the question for Evergreen Community Partners and other community organizations at this time, he added, but it's something that should be on their radar in the future.
In the short-term, however, Evergreen can improve the intersection.
Evergreen Community Partners, a nonprofit organization formed to create safer roads for children, has been awarded a $60,000 grant from Safe Routes to School, a federally funded program. Now in its second year in Montana, the program provides $1 million annually to schools across the state. Kila, Edgerton and Russell schools also are part of the Safe Routes program.
Evergreen plans to use $50,000 to reconfigure a fence that separates junior-high students from the corner of U.S. 2 and West Reserve Drive. Right now it's so packed with children that those who want to cross the street have a difficult time getting through the crowd.
"It will take kids away from being just right on that intersection," Key said.
The remaining $10,000 will be spent on items to encourage students to walk and bike to school. Most will go toward flashing bicycle safety lights students can wear in the dark; the rest will pay for awards and incentives to keep classes motivated about walking and biking.
Reconfiguring the junior-high parking lot to allow for a right turn onto U.S. 2 also would improve safety, Key said.
Medium-range safety improvements might include traffic-calming measures on East Evergreen. Key recommended curb bulb-outs, raised medians that force traffic to slow.
These would be installed at Birch Drive and Bernard Road, he said, logical places for children to cross the street.
A separated bike and pedestrian path on West Evergreen Drive is another option. The Montana Department of Transportation already has applied for a $260,000 federal Transportation, Community and System Preservation grant to put a path on the south side of the street. One other group also has applied for the money; it will be awarded by the end of the summer.
One of the most important things the community can focus on, Key said, is sustaining the enthusiasm and commitment to creating safer roads for kids. Working with other groups is one thing they can do; recruiting new parents each year is another.
"We're just now getting going. You guys are on the cutting edge of it," Key said.
"I worry about sustaining it. That's my big concern. Anything new is hard to grasp."
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.
On the 'Net: