Whitefish road plan undergoes first hearing
The Daily Inter Lake
A Whitefish transportation plan calling for $61 million in street network improvements is the focus of a public hearing on Thursday before the Whitefish City-County Planning Board.
The board will make a recommendation and send the plan to the City Council for final approval in March. If approved, it becomes an amendment to the Whitefish growth policy.
Robert Peccia and Associates drafted the plan under contract with the city of Whitefish and Montana Department of Transportation. It focuses on all elements of Whitefish transportation except U.S. 93, which is being dealt with in a separate corridor study.
Several private landowners have raised concerns about future right-of-way layouts shown in the plan, but the Whitefish Planning Office staff report said lines on the maps simply are placeholders showing optimal corridor locations that tie into existing transportation grids.
"They are in no way binding," the report states. "Any future roads, especially those shown outside of city limits, would most likely only be built by developers as those areas increase in density through development in the years to come."
A $6.6 million rebuild of Karrow Avenue is among the most expensive projects recommended in the plan. Other project recommendations are:
- Baker Avenue extension from the intersection of West 19th Street south to JP Road: $1.3 million.
- Seventh Street bridge, allowing an east-west route across the Whitefish River: $5.1 million.
- Kalner Lane extension, rebuilding Kalner Lane from Montana 40 north to intersect with East Edgewood Drive; it could include a crossing over the railroad tracks: $13.8 million.
- New road extension to Cow Creek, providing a new connection between Denver and East Texas avenues: $2.1 million.
- Wisconsin Avenue improvements, including left-turn bays, pedestrian crossings and traffic signals: $4 million.
- 13th Street bridge, allowing an east-west route across the Whitefish River: $4 million.
- Monegan Road reconstruction south from the intersection with Voerman Road, then east to a projected intersection with Missy Lane: $2.9 million.
The plan doesn't recommend the development of a bypass.
IN OTHER business, the board will consider a proposed amendment to create a new zoning district to provide for commercial services and light industrial uses in rural areas not served by city water and sewer. The change is aimed at accommodating property owners in the area of Montana 40 and Dillon Road, where a new business district will allow commercial development.
The board also will consider an amendment to the sign law that would allow the zoning administrator to remove temporary illegal signs without prior notice to the owner of the sign.
A second proposed sign-law amendment is a housekeeping move to remove language from the code pertaining to the former amortization schedule. The City Council in 2000 enacted an amortization schedule giving businesses with nonconforming signs seven years to comply with the law, but two years later the council voted to have the amortization schedule removed.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at Whitefish City Hall.