EDITORIAL: New traffic era dawns in Kalispell

It’s a historic day for Flathead County.

After well over a half-century in the making, the U.S. 93 bypass opens at 1 p.m. today to the motoring public, marking the completion of the largest road project in the history of the Montana Department of Transportation. And what’s more, the final 4.5-mile, $34 million northern half of the bypass was finished almost five months ahead of schedule.

Federal, state and local officials, including Gov. Steve Bullock, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, will be on hand to lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony. To all of the government officials involved in making the bypass a reality, we issue a long-awaited thank you.

For a rapidly growing city and county, the U.S. 93 Alternate Route will relieve some of the congestion that currently frustrates drivers as they make their way through the busy commercial corridor of north Kalispell and through downtown.

The Inter Lake has written numerous editorials through the years about the need for a bypass. Dozens of news stories documented every stalled attempt. We were frankly quite flabbergasted when the state at long last awarded the contract for the final leg of the bypass. Many doubted the project would ever be completed.

It wasn’t just money that held up the $56 million project. There were political promises made and broken, a string of feasibility studies, NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) squabbles and a ration of government red tape.

Still, the powers that be persevered and here we are, the proud owners — and users — of a brand spanking new highway around Kalispell’s west side.