South Meridian road work taking shape

South Meridian Road will get a makeover this fall, with the road widened to put in two new turn lanes.

One will be for southbound traffic to turn left onto Center Street, the other for northbound traffic to turn left onto Appleway Drive.

A traffic study by Stelling Engineers found those are the most congested intersections on South Meridian.

“We get such huge peak traffic loads in those areas and this construction should alleviate the majority of that congestion,” Kalispell Public Works Director Susie Turner said of the road work.

The two-part, $171,529 contract was awarded last month to LHC Inc. Work should be under way by the third week of September.

Both intersections will remain four-way stops.

Working at Center Street, crews will widen South Meridian to the west to make room for the left turn lane.

Crews will replace any existing sidewalks that get torn up, pour new handicap-accessible sidewalk ramps at the intersection and paint new pedestrian crosswalks on the south and west sides.

“Kids already cross this intersection on their way from the nearby apartment complexes to Peterson Elementary,” said Keith Haskins, Kalispell’s project manager. “Meridian is a very busy street, so the crosswalk and sidewalk ramps will provide a safer way for them to cross the street on their way to and from school.”

Improvements to the Appleway Drive intersection depend on Kalispell acquiring right-of-way from the owner of a gas station there. That agreement is reportedly taking shape and close to being finalized. It would have the city pay $1 to use a narrow, 83-foot long strip of land along South Meridian.

“[The owner] gets the benefit of not having to pay taxes on that portion of his property, and with it he gets a little landscaping and new approaches, so there’s a benefit both ways,” Haskins said.

Assuming work proceeds at both intersections, LHC has 28 days to finish the job.

Most of the road work will be done at night to reduce traffic impacts. But traffic control will be a big part of the job and drivers should expect changes to normal traffic patterns, including detours, Haskins said.

Generally, crews will maintain two-way traffic from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and one-way traffic from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Access to businesses near the work area will be maintained throughout the project.

Louder construction activities such as jackhammering and cutting will be done during the day at non-peak traffic hours to lessen the noise impact on nearby apartment complexes, Haskins said.

THE ROAD work is being paid for with money generated by the West Side Tax Increment Finance District.

That tax increment district was on track to sunset in March, but the Kalispell City Council issued $500,000 in revenue bonds to keep it alive for up to 25 more years.

Those bonds are paying for this South Meridian Road work and a water-line improvement project along West Colorado Street. They will be paid off using money the tax increment district generates each year.

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