Long-awaited left-turn signals for the congested intersection of U.S. 93 and Baker Avenue in Whitefish will be completed next year, thanks to federal stimulus money.

The city of Whitefish announced Tuesday it has won a $3.5 million stimulus grant to reconstruct a two-block stretch of U.S. 93 in the downtown corridor.

The money is a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The U.S. 93 project coincides with the Whitefish downtown master-plan goal of reconstructing and upgrading downtown streets.

Whitefish will use the $3.5 million grant for a curb-to-curb reconstruction of U.S. 93 (Second Street) between Spokane and Baker avenues. Sewer and water lines also will be updated.

Other improvements include a new traffic-signal system, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant crosswalks and parking.

“This is the No. 1 project in our transportation plan,” Whitefish Senior Project Engineer Karin Hilding said.

The state Department of Transportation has been planning the street improvements for years but lacked the money to do it.

The reconstruction must be completed by February 2012, which means the project will be done next year, Hilding said.

In addition to the left-turn lanes at Baker Avenue, motorists will notice a couple of significant changes after the reconstruction. On-street parking will be eliminated on the half-block of Second Street closest to Baker Avenue, and left turns will be eliminated at the Central Avenue intersection to avoid the bottlenecking that now occurs, she said.

The project requires no direct local matching money. Only 3 percent of applications were funded nationwide and Whitefish was one of only two successful applications in Montana.

The federal government estimates the project will create or retain 97 jobs in the Whitefish area. Hilding said the job number was derived from a federal formula that estimates 27.8 jobs for every $1 million  in highway infrastructure investment. But she added that most of the jobs likely would be temporary positions related to the construction. Businesses that support the construction industry also would see some employment benefits from the project.

WGM Group of Missoula collaborated with Hilding on the successful grant application. Key support included 21 letters of support from local officials, citizens, businesses, community groups, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and State Senator Ryan Zinke.

The grant application emphasized how the reconstruction would aid long-term economic growth and promote economic expansion by increasing the value of downtown properties. Safety benefits also were noted.

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com