Kalispell Council talks traffic at work session

Implementing traffic calming measures — such as reducing street widths and adding traffic circles — will be the topic of discussion at the Kalispell City Council’s work session on Monday.

The Public Works Department will present a draft traffic calming policy seeking input and direction from Council. The intent of the policy is to give city staff and the public direction on how traffic calming measures, which are control devices or road designs intended to slow traffic and provide protections for pedestrians, should be implemented within the city.

The draft policy outlines four main types of traffic calming measures including limiting the ability to drive in a straight line by creating shifts in the roadway, changing the height of the roadway forcing motorists to slow down, reducing street widths thus naturally lowering vehicle speeds, and creating physical barriers such as medians.

The policy comes following the Move 2040 Transportation Plan adopted in 2021 to overhaul Kalispell’s transportation infrastructure. The plan suggests about 90 traffic changes that could be made to local roads and intersections in the next 20 years.

Following the adoption of the plan, Council tasked city staff with drafting a traffic calming policy.

“The importance of reducing vehicle speeds in an area where there is potential for conflict between a pedestrian and a motor vehicle is undeniable,” the Move 2040 plan says. “Simply stated, the slower the speed of a vehicle, the greater the chances are for survival for a pedestrian.”

The traffic calming policy notes that as the community grows, roads within residential neighborhoods and other areas can become convenient cut-throughs for traffic, causing an increase in driving speeds and traffic volumes. Kalispell has identified a need to employ traffic calming devices and techniques to calm speeds and reduce volumes, the plan notes.

“Traffic calming goes beyond typical signage installations or roadway striping through the installation or use of techniques which add a level of complexity to the road or discomfort to drivers, requiring them to be more alert and/or slow down to navigate,” the plan says.

The plan also notes that in addition, implementation of measures also must take into account appropriate access and response times for emergency vehicles and also consider large road users such as school buses and snow plow trucks.

The policy is intended to provide guidance as to when traffic calming may be considered for installation, how it will be funded and what is required for public support before moving forward.

A traffic calming toolbox as part of the plan includes four sub-groups of traffic calming options.

Under horizontal deflection, the three options include curves in the road, reconfiguring intersections to have skewed paths through an intersection and using a traffic circle.

For vertical deflection, options include speed hump, a raised area across the roadway known as a speed table, and a raised crosswalk.

Under street width reduction, options are curb extension, median island and a road diet by conversion of an undivided roadway to a road with fewer or narrower travel lanes.

For routing restrictions, options are diverting traffic with physical barriers, closing streets completely in certain cases and adding a median to a roadway.

The work session is open to the public and starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Avenue East.

For more information, visit the city’s website at .

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.