Open house for 16th Street Offset project

The Kalispell Planning Department will hold an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday at Kalispell City Hall to gather input about the proposed intersection project at Airport Road, 18th Street and First Avenue East.

The city has been in plans to improve the complicated intersection in South Kalispell for about a year. The project started with nine potential project designs, including options to add traffic lights in the area. The Montana Department of Transportation reportedly reviewed the traffic statistics and “found that traffic is insufficient to warrant signalization.”

The city now has settled on the 16th Street Offset option and reached the 30% design landmark for the project.

The proposed design includes a number of changes to the current landscape. The project would close 18th Street on the west side of Airport Road and replace it with a new connection between 16th Street West, Airport Road and First Avenue West, two blocks north of the current intersection. According to a press release, “the project will eliminate the dangerous offset intersection at 18th Street West and Airport Road.”

Along the new construction, there will be 7,500 feet of sidewalk connecting to Rankin School and Legends Field.

Bike lanes will also be added along Airport Road. The current shoulders on the road will be changed to a “no parking” designation and both sides of the road will be designated as bike lanes. “This road is a popular commuter and recreational road for bicycle traffic,” the press release stated.

Finally, a vacant lot at the intersection of 18th Street and Airport Road will be converted into an improved public parking facility with 166 parking spaces. This space will also “have internal landscape islands, comply with city stormwater standards and contain landscape boulevards, street trees and sidewalks along the perimeter.” This lot also provide snow storage and overflow parking for Legends Stadium.

Those interested in the project can visit the Planning Office at 201 First Ave. East, email planning@kalispell.com or call 758-7940.