Connector route to be built this year

The Daily Inter Lake

After decades of hopes and years of planning, the first section of the long-awaited U.S. 93 bypass around Kalispell should be under construction this year.

The final design work recently was completed for the Reserve Connector, a four-lane road at the north end of the bypass route that will run from Stillwater Road southeast across the Section 36 school trust property to U.S. 93, just south of Costco.

The connector should go out to bid in April and be under construction by June, according to Kathy Harris with Stelling Engineers, the company that's handling the bypass design work.

Dwane Kailey, the regional administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation, added that the agency is committed to having the road open for traffic by the time the new Glacier High School opens this fall. The road will link the high school campus with U.S. 93.

Harris and Kailey updated the Kalispell Technical Advisory Committee on Thursday about the bypass.

One design feature recently added to the connector, Harris said, is a roundabout at the intersection of Stillwater Road and West Reserve Drive.

Traffic volumes at that intersection won't support a traffic light, she said, so engineers were looking for a better way to control vehicles.

While four-way stops can result in serious accidents when drivers fail to stop, Harris said, the whole intent of a roundabout is to physically slow vehicles down, so that there will be fewer accidents and so any accidents that do occur won't be as severe.

The design calls for raised median dividers or "splitters" on all four roads leading into the roundabout. The splitters will deflect vehicles to the right as they enter the traffic circle. There also will be a landscaped mound in the middle to prevent vehicles from going through the center, as well as an 11-foot wide "apron" adjacent to the road surface, so large trucks will have additional room to turn.

The intent is to force vehicles to slow down to about 15 to 20 mph as they travel through the roundabout.

In addition to the Reserve Connector, Harris said the final design for the southern half of the bypass should be completed this year. Kailey said he hoped that project would go out to bid early next year.

Given the current funding limitations, she said the initial design for the south half calls for an at-grade intersection at Airport Road, rather than an overpass. Several planned access ramps also will be postponed until Congress appropriates more money.

"We're moving forward with a four-lane design without any interchanges [access ramps] at Airport Road or Foy's Lake Road," Harris said. "We'll buy the necessary right of way, but we won't build the interchanges until funding is available."

Right-of-way acquisition is continuing along the entire 8-mile bypass route, she said.

The bypass is estimated to cost about $76 million. To date, Congress has allocated about $30 million for construction; the remainder of the funding will have to come from annual appropriations "earmarks."

Former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns requested an additional $8.2 million for the bypass last year, but Kailey said that ear-mark didn't survive the process.

"We're not going to get that money," he said. "But we're looking at going out to bid on the south half early next year, so there's an opportunity for additional appropriations before that."

The south half, which will run from Gardner's Auction north to U.S. 2, near the west end of Appleway Drive, will eat up the rest of the available bypass construction money. Completing the south half and building the north half will depend on future federal allocations.

Barrett Kaiser, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Montana's senior senator is pursuing two avenues to secure additional bypass dollars.

First, Baucus is pushing the Federal Highway Administration to divert some of its own operating funds towards the bypass.

"Max is making the case that the bypass is an ongoing project that has been funded in the past," Kaiser said. "He thinks there's a strong case to get additional funding this year. He's pushing for a significant allotment."

Baucus also will request a significant earmark later this year when the appropriations process for fiscal 2008 begins.

"Max is fully committed to the bypass," Kaiser said. "He's doing all he can to ensure that the project continues."

On the Web:

A Web camera showing a roundabout in Ontario, Canada, can be viewed at www.ourston.com/09_Live_Webcam.htm

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com