One-way avenues to become two-way
A project to replace a section of water main and street in downtown Kalispell is scheduled to start June 6 and continue into the fall.
The project will affect 14 blocks of Fourth Avenue East from Center Street to 14th Street East and one block on 14th Street East from Third Avenue East to Fourth Avenue East, according to Kalispell senior civil engineer Keith Haskins.
Upon completion, both Fourth Avenue East and Third Avenue East will be permanently converted from one-way to two-way streets, mimicking other nieghborhoods around the city.
This change, according to Haskins, has been planned since 2008 but could not be put into action until Third and Fourth Avenue East were removed from the city’s Urban Route System last year, giving City Council the power to make modifications without the approval of the Montana Department of Transportation.
Following a traffic study in 2008 that indicated an above-average traffic delay at intersections on the two streets, the public works department determined there was a need for a “traffic-calming solution.”
The study showed an average delay at intersections on Third Avenue East ranging between 10 and 25 seconds, depending on the time of day. That delay time nearly doubles on Fourth Avenue East during times when traffic increases going to and from the Hedges Elementary School.
A traffic count conducted in 2014 showed that between 3,300 and 3,900 cars drive down Third Avenue East daily and between 470 and 2,000 travel down Fourth, with around 85 percent of those vehicles driving between 15 and 24 mph, according to Haskins.
By converting Third and Fourth Avenue East into two-way streets, Haskins said drivers will be forced to pay more attention to oncoming traffic with some expected to find alternative routes.
New amenities to be added to the streets during construction include wider curbs for easier turns, gutter systems to drain storm water, the replacement of 35 dead or dying trees in the boulevards, and new fire hydrants.
Modified and additional signs will also be installed in order to help transition drivers into the habit of the new stopping conditions and two-way traffic. However, no new signage will be put in other than those replacing current ones.
At a recent meeting on the project, residents of Third and Fourth Avenue East expressed concern that no additional stop signs would be implemented to help slow traffic. Many argued that the average speed of people driving down the roads was much higher than the study showed, and some expressed fear for children crossing the streets now that traffic will travel both ways.
Haskins said that once drivers are used to the two-way streets, a new traffic study will be conducted to decide whether new signage is warranted.
Construction in front of the school zone on Fourth Avenue East will be conducted over the summer and will not affect access to the school during the semester.
Prior to construction, Third Avenue East will be converted into a two-way street to accommodate traffic rerouted from Fourth Avenue East.
Hours of construction will normally be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and access to properties on Fourth Avenue East will be restored by the end of each workday and on weekends unless otherwise specified. Street and parking access will be limited during hours of construction, but alley access will remain unaffected.
The roads will reopen in October and all landscaping and clean-up should be finished by November.
The project will cost the city $2.4 million and will be paid for via a state revolving fund loan. The bid for construction was awarded to LHC, Inc.
For more information on this or other public works projects or to watch the presentation of this project, visit http://kalispell.com/public_works/.
Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.