Build the connector; it's needed

Just when it seemed all was set for the U.S. 93 bypass, along comes a curve ball.

The Technical Advisory Committee last week recommended that initial bypass work next year include building a new road to connect Hutton Ranch Plaza with West Reserve Drive.

This runs counter to the recommendations of Kalispell and Flathead County governments to build the south half of the bypass first (from West Idaho Street heading south and connecting with U.S. 93 near Gardner's Auction). The south-half-first plan is what the Montana Department of Transportation is prepared to pursue.

At first glance it might appear that the advisory committee's suggestion is just one more construction distraction that would delay actual building of the long-awaited bypass that is designed to move truck traffic off of U.S. 93 and reroute it west of town.

One might wonder if the connector road isn't just a diversion of money and effort that would set back a project that already has taken years and years to develop - and likely will take many more years and years to actually build.

But if one considers the reality of Kalispell traffic (It's not getting any easier to get around out there, folks…), the connector road may not be such a bad idea after all.

In essence that road would run behind the Target/Home Depot complex and connect with the main road running through the new Hutton Ranch center. Added to the new Reserve Loop that runs from U.S. 93 to Stillwater Road, the connector becomes, in effect, a mini-bypass around the U.S. 93/West Reserve Drive junction.

The connector road would cost $3 million. And while that's $3 million that would not be spent on the southern half of the bypass, it's also just a portion of the $8.9 million available in 2008 (the entire eight-mile bypass is expected to cost a minimum of $76 million).

There would still be money left over to begin soil work on the southern half of the bypass. The southern route is going to be a protracted project anyway with segments built here and there - and a completed road is likely to take some time.

One advantage of the connector is that it would be a swiftly completed highway improvement in an area where traffic congestion is increasing steadily.

Look at what's already built or under construction at the north end of Kalispell and then consider what's coming next: As many as 4,000 new homes plus Glacier Town Center's 1.8 million square feet of retail and office space.

The back road behind Target and Home Depot might be a good way to relieve some of the traffic at that busy Reserve/U.S. 93 intersection and provide an immediate benefit for drivers.

We don't think building that connector will seriously set back the progress on the main bypass. But we do think that building the connector soon is something the powers that be - the Kalispell City Council and the Flathead County commissioners - should consider very closely.

The southern route will get done eventually. The northern side of Kalispell needs all the traffic help it can get - now.