Whitefish bike path plan ready for prime time

A bicycle and pedestrian master plan that outlines $23.5 million worth of trail development in Whitefish over the next 20 years will make its debut at a Whitefish Planning Board public hearing this month.

Whitefish has been building bike paths for a couple of decades and adopted a bicycle and pedestrian master plan in 1998 as a chapter of a broader transportation and storm drainage plan.

Since then the city has adopted five other plans that outline some measure of bicycle and pedestrian transportation planning, such as the 2009 Whitefish Transportation Plan, the 2007 Whitefish Growth Policy and the 2015 Whitefish Downtown Master Plan.

Even though various updates and amendments have been adopted through the years to keep pace with Whitefish growth, seven years ago city leaders saw a need for a comprehensive plan as path development has evolved with more sophisticated design, new technology and diverse funding sources.

“There is now an acute need to plan for and fund the maintenance of the many miles of shared-use paths and other pedestrian and bicyclist facilities built in the city of Whitefish since work began in earnest in the 1990s,” the draft plan points out.

The City Council budgeted for the master plan this year and hired WGM Group to write the “Connect Whitefish” plan that replaces the 1998 master plan. An advisory committee chaired by John Phelps also has been involved with the process.

The new master plan envisions a network of bicycle and pedestrian routes that provides both recreational and transportation opportunities.

CONNECT WHITEFISH delves into connectivity issues such as the Whitefish River, which creates a challenge but also creates an opportunity for a recreation corridor.

The plan makes 11 policy recommendations, listing the completion of the Whitefish River Trail from Skye Park Bridge to JP Road as the city’s top priority. Trail projects are divided into three tiers of priority: immediate consideration for 0-5 years; intermediate consideration for 5-10 years; and long-range plans for 10-20 years.

Roughly $5.6 million in trail development is included in the first tier. The most expensive project on the list is a projected $2.3 million trail from Lion Mountain Road to Twin Bridges Road, to be completed by the Montana Department of Transportation.

Another big project proposed within the next five years is a Spokane Avenue bridge that would become part of the Whitefish River Trail. The city would work with the state during the design process for U.S. 93 to develop an at-grade crossing for the trail beneath the planned Spokane Avenue bridge. The cost is estimated at $905,000.

Other Tier 1 projects would develop other segments of the Whitefish River Trail and a shared-use path under the railroad viaduct on Baker Avenue. A shared-use path adjacent to State Park Road is proposed when the road is rebuilt with resort tax revenue in about 2019.

Tier 2 projects total another $3.5 million and include trail projects on Texas Avenue, Karrow Avenue, Denver Street, Monegan Road, among many others.

Some of the most expensive trail projects are outlined in the Tier 3 proposals for a 10- to 20-year time line. A path connecting Armory Road to Voerman Road and back into Whitefish along Park Avenue is projected to cost $2.8 million. Converting an urban trail to a shared-use path from Creekwood Park to Willowbrook subdivision and on to East Second Street is estimated at $1.2 million. An extension of the Wisconsin Avenue Trail to Les Mason State Park would cost an estimated $1.2 million, while a path from East Edgewood to Reservoir Road via Rick O’Shay Road would cost $1.3 million.

THE PROJECT cost estimates are for planning purposes only, the draft notes. Estimates represent costs based on average Montana and national construction costs in 2016 dollars and projects should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and adjusted for inflation, the plan advises.

The master plan outlines a number of recommendations for safety improvement projects that should be done sooner rather than later, such as path lighting, better winter access to trails and better signs at uncontrolled intersections.

Recommendations for wayfinding signs also are included.

Path maintenance is addressed as well. Routine short- and long-term maintenance by the city is expensive, the draft acknowledges, with an approximate annual cost of $5,700 per mile of asphalt path. The plan recommends budgeting a minimum of $2,000 per mile for short-term path maintenance and advises a long-term maintenance schedule be developed at $3,700 per mile.

A chapter of the plan deals with funding issues, acknowledging Whitefish may be leaving a “golden age” of funding opportunities for bicycle and pedestrian paths. Community Transportation Enhancement Program allocations from the state government no longer exist, and the city’s tax-increment finance district sunsets in a few years.

Competition for state government funding is fierce, the draft notes.

The plan recommends developing Connect Whitefish as a nonprofit foundation with a memorandum of understanding to partner with the city of Whitefish. The foundation then could market paths and raise money for facilities.

The city also should consider the feasibility of a full-time city bicycle and pedestrian facilities and programing coordinator that would lead fundraising and grant-writing, according to the plan recommendations.

The Whitefish Planning Board will consider the draft master plan at its Nov. 17 meeting. The City Council also will hold a public hearing before it considers adopting the master plan as an addendum to the city’s growth policy.

The Connect Whitefish Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan draft can be viewed on the city of Whitefish website, www.cityofwhitefish.org.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.