Traffic load growing on bypass

After opening two years ago, the southern half of the U.S. 93 alternate route on Kalispell’s west side continues to see more traffic and has proved to be a real blessing for some drivers.

But the alternate route’s full potential to divert trucks and through-traffic around the downtown and other congested areas in Kalispell won’t be realized until the northern half is built and connected to the highway north of town.

That’s expected to cost another $35 million to $36 million and require at least four more construction phases. And until then, drivers will just have to get what use they can out of the road.

Eric Sklany is one of several thousand people who drive the alternate route any given day, whether it’s in his personal vehicle or one of his hauling business’ belly or dump trucks.

A Kila resident and owner of TTNE Hauling, Sklany said the alternate route’s southern half is “a wonderful thing” for him. It keeps him out of the slow traffic downtown and that saves him time, fuel and money.

Sklany only wishes the northern half was done, and that the roundabouts along the route were a bit larger for trucks.

“This has been kind of a sweet thing for me. Any time I have to travel south of town I use it,” Sklany said.

The same goes for Sklany’s wife, who works south of Kalispell. “She goes to work that way, not going through the traffic in town. We know a lot of people who do that, anyone running from west of town and heading south,” he said.

Montana Department of Transportation traffic counts also show growing numbers of vehicles using the southern half of the alternate route, which cost $22.6 million to build and opened in November 2010.

The stretch between U.S. 93 and Airport Road averaged 2,650 vehicles a day in 2011, up from 1,930 in 2010. The area between Airport and Meridian roads averaged 4,020 vehicles a day in 2011, up from 2,450 in 2010. And the northern stretch between Meridian and U.S. 2, where the alternate route ends, saw traffic counts increase from 2,970 to 4,770 vehicles a day.

At the same time, traffic counts on Main Street in the downtown area have fallen by as much as 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles a day.

“Word’s getting out that this is open, and there’s a nice, two-lane road for people to use,” said Ed Toavs, the Missoula district administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation. “While there’s a growing number of folks using it, there’s probably still a fair amount of folks saying they’re going to stick to Main Street because they feel it’s out of their way.”

Some of the traffic on the alternate route is trucks. One of the project’s main goals is to keep trucks out of downtown.

Pam Carbonari, director of the Kalispell Downtown Association and the Kalispell Business Improvement District, said she drives the alternate route and sees more and more trucks using it.

“I think they recognize it is a quicker route for them, especially during the summer tourist season, and that it is something they can work with,” Carbonari said. “It’s not significant enough yet to truly have an impact on noise or pedestrian safety downtown. When we get to the point of seeing the route completed, then I think we will see significant truck traffic eliminated from Main Street.”

Toavs agreed. “If that northern half is built, I expect those 3,000 and 4,000 vehicle numbers would jump dramatically,” he said.

COMPLETING THE alternate route’s northern half remains a tall order. The project is not listed in Montana’s five-year tentative construction plan, but does remain on the state’s radar, Toavs said.

Design work is almost completed and all but three of the 133 parcels of land needed to build the route have been acquired. The goal is to get that work done to have a shovel-ready project if any “grab-bag” money materializes because other projects aren’t delivered, Toavs said.

The first phase of the route’s northern half would be built from U.S. 93 and West Reserve Drive south to Reserve Loop, a leg estimated to cost $8 million.

Running the route south to Three Mile Drive would cost $15 million and building a bridge over the route for Three Mile Drive would cost $5 million. Building the route from there to U.S. 2 to meet the southern half would cost another $8 million.

Long-term plans call for the alternate route to be widened to four lanes and for its roundabouts to be replaced with interchanges. But that’s a long way out, Toavs said. “I’d just like to get the thing connected.”

MEETING ON Thursday, Kalispell’s Technical Advisory Committee will review some of the final designs taking shape for the alternate route’s northern half.

Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz, who chairs the committee, said the southern half is working as expected and meeting preliminary traffic estimates.

“I think the local population is really realizing what it can offer. The only negative I’ve heard is community acceptance of roundabouts. And once you accept the fact that they really do work, it’s a good piece of highway,” Jentz said, adding that he expects to see even higher traffic counts for 2012.

“The downside is it only goes half way. That’s the biggest limiting factor right now.”

The Technical Advisory Committee also will try to agree on the next priority project for Kalispell’s federal road funding. The city gets about $600,000 a year and has about $1 million available. The last major project done was the widening of North Meridian Road, Jentz said.

Some of the projects being considered include:

• Fixing the congested bottleneck at the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Whitefish Stage Road;

• Widening Main Street to four lanes where it splits around Flathead County Courthouse;

• Improving Three Mile Drive;

• Improving Willow Glen Drive, which some drivers use as a bypass to get around downtown on Kalispell’s east side.

“We’re becoming an incredibly congested city, because of both through and local traffic,” Jentz said. “We have way more needs than we have money, so we’re trying to prioritize those scarce dollars.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.