Evergreen sidewalk project now a waiting game

The quest to install sidewalks along the U.S. 2 corridor through Evergreen is now a waiting game.

With hard-fought approval from the Flathead County commissioners, Evergreen community leaders in early June submitted a last-minute application for a roughly $1 million grant from the Montana Department of Transportation. The commissioners last month completed the process of establishing a special district that would tax the owners of 61 properties along the highway to cover the maintenance of the sidewalks in perpetuity.

And Daren Engellant, vice president of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, said he's spoken with county officials about ways to cover an additional $50,000 in costs associated with the project. He and other community leaders previously said they were surprised to be on the hook for that amount after the commissioners moved to push the grant application forward.

Now backers of the project — which aims to provide safe pedestrian routes to Evergreen's elementary and junior high schools — are waiting to learn whether they will receive the grant from the Transportation Department. Theirs was one of several applications from the county for a limited pot of funds earmarked for transportation projects.

Engellant said he hopes to have an answer from the department by late August or early September. If the county won't cover the outstanding $50,000 upfront, he said, the Chamber of Commerce and other groups and individuals will cobble together that amount.

"If there's $50,000 due, and it gets reimbursed, we'll find a way," Engellant said. "And if the county won't do it, we'll get it. We've got the word out. We've got enough support behind [the project] that we'll find a way to get that money."

The project would add paved paths along U.S. 2 between Montana 35 and Sunset Drive, and along portions of Montana 35 and West Evergreen Drive. The corridor is lined for much of the year with muddy or dusty foot paths, or nearly impassable mounds of snow and ice, forcing students to walk or bike along the edge of the highway to and from school.

The project also would provide easier access to Evergreen's storefronts.

Assistant editor Chad Sokol may be reached at 406-758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com.