Bypass progress hinges on funding
By JOHN STANG
The Daily Inter Lake
Kalispell's U.S. 93 Bypass will be built as fast as money slowly dribbles out of Congress.
The trick will be to build the west-side highway's segments in an order that makes sense - transportation-wise, financially and politically.
Montana Transportation Director Jim Lynch wants Kalispell and Flathead County governments to decide what should be built when - if all else is equal.
Lynch, other state transportation officials and city and county leaders discussed that situation Monday.
The Kalispell City Council and the Flathead County commissioners are supposed to provide feedback on those questions soon.
Here is the basic situation.
A federally funded eight-mile U.S 93 Bypass is supposed to begin south of Kalispell, swing west and reconnect with the main U.S. 93 near West Reserve Drive in northern Kalispell.
The project is in three primary stages:
. The southern portion to run from Gardner's Auction south of Kalispell to U.S. 2 West west of Meridian Road.
. The northern half of the main bypass from U.S. 2 West to West Reserve Drive.
. A two-lane road running south from West Reserve Drive to connect to the east side of the Hutton Ranch Plaza shopping center.
Overall, the bypass project is expected to cost almost $76 million - with inflation accounted for only through 2010. That estimate does not include an extra $24 million for ramped interchanges at Airport Road and U.S. 2 West, which are supposed to be built after everything else is finished.
So far, Congress has appropriated almost $26 million to cover engineering and purchasing right-of-way property. Most of the right-of-way land has not yet been bought.
That leaves an existing $2.6 million plus an extra federal $6 million - if it survives upcoming Congressional conference committee talks - set aside for actual construction work in 2008.
If four lanes initially are built, actual construction of the southern half of the bypass would be an estimated $31.7 million.
If two lanes initially are built and two added later, the cost of building the southern half would be an estimated $33.8 million.
A potential $8.6 million is available for construction in 2008 if Congress approves $6 million this year.
A major question is how much Congress will appropriate to the bypass project each subsequent year - annual figures that no one is ready to guess at.
On Monday, city and county officials preferred building a four-lane highway up front. They contended that it would be cheaper in the long run and it would be politically embarrassing to build a two-laner and than add two lanes later.
"I think it's a no-brainer that it has to be four lanes," council member Jim Atkinson said.
Lynch and other highway officials laid out other factors that local officials need to address. These include:
. About the only guaranteed work in 2008 would be building dirt embankments on top of two areas of soft soil just north and south of Ashley Creek where it flows near U.S. 2 West. The idea is that the extra dirt will settle and harden the soil in those two areas by 2009 so the highway can be built on top.
This 2008 work would cost about $3.9 million for buying land and $3.1 million in actually moving dirt.
. The potential 2009 work could start in two places.
One would be building the highway from Gardner's Auction to Airport Road with a non-ramped, at-grade intersection at Airport Road. This would include building a bridge over Ashley Creek south of Airport Road. A four-lane construction project - without including right-of-way - would be $10.1 million, mostly in yet-to-be-appropriated money.
The other potential starting point would be building from Foy's Lake Road to U.S. 2 West, which also includes building a bridge over Ashley Creek north of Foy's Lake Road. A four-lane construction project - without including buying right-of-ways - would be $9.3 million, mostly in yet-to-be-appropriated money.
. The final leg of the southern half would run from Airport Road to Foy's Lake Road. At four lanes, it would cost - without including buying right-of-way - $10.9 million in yet-to-be-appropriated money.
. Local officials could decide to have the two Ashley Creek bridges built prior to all highway construction. Each bridge would cost $2 million to $3 million.
Local and state officials plan to discuss these choices next in an Oct. 10 meeting in Kalispell.
Lynch said that if right-of-way negotiations stall in one area, that could lead to construction starting elsewhere along the southern bypass route.
Right now, the state has purchased right-of-way on nine parcels out of the 92 lots along the southern bypass route. That translates to roughly 107 acres out of a total of 248 acres.
Both local and state officials fretted about people seeing big chunks of highway built that don't lead to anywhere significant - saying that is inevitable when splitting the southern bypass into one soil-settling segment followed by three construction phases.
That prompted local officials to push for building as fast as possible.
"I want us to be in the ground, pushing dirt in 2009," Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy said.
Predicted future federal appropriations for construction - not counting right-of-way purchases - after the southern half of the bypass is done can be broken down as follows:
. $32.3 million in 2007 dollars for a four-lane northern-half bypass. Building two lanes first and adding two lanes later would cost $39.7 million.
. $2.5 million in 2007 dollars for the two-lane Hutton Ranch Plaza connector road.
Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com