The Transportation Commission of the Montana Department of Transportation on Tuesday re-designated Reserve Drive in Kalispell from an urban route to a primary route in the state highway system, a move that changes the road’s funding source and likely will accelerate the time-line for widening the road and improving the busy intersection of Reserve Drive and Whitefish Stage Road.

Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner called this development a “huge step.”

He explained that shifting Reserve Drive to primary-route status has been a top priority for the Kalispell Chamber for several years, second only in transportation planning to completing the U.S. 93 bypass.

Montana Department of Transportation District Administrator Bob Vosen explained Reserve Drive is now eligible for funding from a much larger pot of money than it used to have under its previous designation as a city of Kalispell urban route. Other primary routes in Montana include Montana 83, Montana 35 from Kalispell to Polso, Montana 200 from Idaho to Ravalli and from Bonner to Clearwater Junction.

However, Vosen explained there is also more competition for projects to be funded in the primary system. He reported about $100 million worth of projects are ahead of Reserve Drive in the state’s queue, and they receive about $20 million in funding every year.

As such, Vosen said the Reserve Drive reconstruction project is likely still a few years away from getting started.

“I recognize the need to do something with Reserve Street, but there are a tremendous number of needs within the primary system in District 1, and only a limited amount of funds,” Vosen said. “MDT will be working to try to fit a project on this route to improve the transportation network in the Flathead, but at this point I don’t know what the project will be exactly, or when it will be built.”

The next steps in developing the project will be nominating a specific project and starting to plan it.

Even though construction won’t get underway for several years, Unterreiner is nonetheless excited about this latest change for the popular thruway. He said re-designating Reserve Drive, “is really going accelerate its ability to receive funding and be completed that much sooner.”

He added Reserve Drive might also become eligible for additional infrastructure funding that might be provided by the federal government, if another $400 billion in funding is approved through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Unterreiner said the road’s primary system status “makes it well-positioned” for this potential additional funding.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.