Commission asks Kalispell to be patient

HELENA — The Montana Transportation Commission is committed to building the Kalispell bypass. But scrounging up an estimated $33 million needed to finish the job might take a while, commission members warned Thursday.

“We don’t take projects on without the intent to finish them,” said Kevin Howlett, the commission’s chairman.

Howlett added that there are many other transportation priorities that also need funding, including a crumbling concrete bridge in Hungry Horse. And the needs of existing infrastructure have to be weighed as the state considers spending money to build new roads.

“Bear with us. There are only so many pieces in the pie,” Howlett said. “Don’t think we have abandoned this. We’re with you, and we want to see it done. But we represent the entire state, and there are projects all over the state.”

That was the bottom-line message for several dozen people from Kalispell who showed up Thursday at the commission’s monthly meeting in Helena. People showed up to reaffirm that the bypass is needed and that the shovel-ready project — 20 years in the making and already more than half-built at a cost of $102 million — needs to be finished at the earliest possible date.

“It is important to the Kalispell community and our number one transportation priority,” said Pam Carbonari, director of the Kalispell Business Improvement District and Kalispell Downtown Association. “I understand you have funding issues, and that bridges need to be replaced when they are in disrepair, but this is also a serious safety and economic issue, and I hope it remains a strong priority for you as you move through this process.”

That view was echoed by others.

The strong show of support forced the commission to move its meeting from Montana Department of Transportation offices to the Red Lion Colonial Inn just to have enough room.

Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher, all three Flathead County commissioners, State Sen. Bruce Tutvedt and State. Rep. Mike Cuffe all spoke in favor of finishing the bypass as a project needed to improve traffic and safety and help spur economic development.

So did 15 people the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce bused to Helena. Another 150 chamber members signed a letter of support for the project.

Federal stimulus money and congressional earmarks have paid for almost 75 percent of the Kalispell bypass so far. With those funding sources dried up, the project must tap into the state’s core transportation funding program.

Mike Tooley, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, said the department plans to rebuild Three Mile Drive for the Kalispell bypass next spring — work that still requires the transportation commission’s approval.

The estimated $5.2 million project would rebuild Three Mile Drive with a bridge over the planned path of the bypass for a full interchange there. That would leave just two more construction phases needed for a fully functioning bypass: a stretch of bypass from U.S. 2 to Three Mile Drive and a segment from Three Mile Drive to Reserve Loop.

Tooley said the transportation department and commission are reviewing five-year construction plans, a process that should wrap up next month. The bypass is positioned well to be completed sooner rather than later because it’s more mature than many other projects, he said.

“What I heard today and have heard in my own conversations with the [commission] chairman is that if there is a bypass project and a safety project that are at the same level of maturity and the same amount of funding, he’s going to want to direct that funding to the safety project. I think we all can understand that,” Tooley said.

“But in the long run I think when they see all these projects laid side by side, the Kalispell bypass is often going to rise to the top, if not close to the top. It’s positioned really well because it’s ready to go.”

TRANSPORTATION commission members did give Kalispell a green light to complete Four Mile Drive for the city’s next federal urban highway project.

That approval was left on hold last month when commission members expressed concern about the project, its relationship with the Kalispell bypass and if the new road can be built within six years as federal regulations require.

The estimated $3.1 million project would extend Four Mile Drive west to Stillwater Road with a bridge over the planned path of the Kalispell bypass to allow for a full interchange there. It provides a new way in and out of the Kidsports youth athletic complex and Flathead Valley Community College, two major traffic generators in one of the most congested areas in not just Kalispell but all of western Montana.

Kalispell accrues $600,000 in federal urban highway funding each year and has $2.2 million saved up.

“[Four Mile Drive] is an important project for our community and a doable project. Funding is available, right-of-way is available and there’s a great community need,” Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

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