Bridge in middle of nowhere

A developer’s plans to build a private, gated bridge across the Flathead River near Hungry Horse are pretty presumptuous in assuming that the various permitting agencies would just go along with the project.

For starters, the project serves only the most narrow public interest possible, and it clearly would have large impacts on the residents of Gamma Road, a dead-end county right-of-way that leads from U.S. 2 in Hungry Horse to a steep embankment above the Flathead River.

Residents  on the road were understandably upset to only recently learn of the bridge plans being pursued by the developer of Flathead River Ranch, a subdivision of exclusive 20-acre lots on the other side of the river.

As it turns out, the bridge would avoid the oversight of most permitting authorities because it would apparently span the river without piers or intrusive abutments.

A member of the Flathead Conservation District explained that there was no reason to deny the only permit the district has authority to grant. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, meanwhile, is not involved because it would not require adding or removing fill from the riverbanks.

The only jurisdictions that may have a say are Flathead County, in granting an approach easement to the bridge, and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which has jurisdiction over the riverbed. (Greg Poncin, the DNRC’s Kalispell Unit Manager, makes the case that the air space over the water is also within the agency’s authority.)

Again, what is the public interest in this project?

The Flathead River Ranch properties have existing access from Blankenship and Rabe roads, and that’s what existed when the developer bought into it.

Those routes may be inconvenient and possibly a hindrance to the marketability of the properties, but this is a case of caveat emptor — buyer beware. Making the property more attractive to potential buyers should be of no concern to the ruling authorities.

It needs to be emphasized here that this stretch of river is part of the Flathead’s designated Wild and Scenic River Corridor. Allowing private interests to build private bridges in that designated corridor would be extraordinarily bad precedent.

The DNRC, and possibly the county, are right to put up resistance to this project.