The improvement project for the Baker Avenue Viaduct is moving forward as Whitefish city staff recently selected an engineer to design the project.

Through a selection process, the city chose WGM Group to provide engineering services for the project and Whitefish City Council unanimously approved the decision at a February meeting.

WGM Group has worked with the city in the past, including designing the Baker Avenue Underpass that was completed last year, and were determined to be the best choice for the viaduct improvements.

“Upon completion of the interviews, it was the unanimous opinion of the selection committee that a contract be awarded to WGM Group,” Whitefish Public Works Director Craig Workman told council. “While both consultants did demonstrate their ability to successfully complete the project, we felt that WGM really stood out with the recent design work on the Baker Avenue Underpass and all the past projects it worked on.”

The scope of work for improvements on the viaduct includes narrowing the two driving lanes on the viaduct to create a 12-foot wide multi-use trail on both sides of the roadway. Additionally, the existing barriers between the sidewalk and the road will be replaced with more visually attractive barriers and the city hopes to also replace the chain link fencing with an aesthetic ornamental fence.

The total cost for the project is estimated to be under $250,000.

The improvements that the city is going ahead with are actually scaled back from previous designs that showed planters with trees, additional landscaping, benches and new lighting over the viaduct. This is mainly due to a lack of funds after receiving initial cost estimates.

The city had hoped to pay for the project with tax increment financing monies in conjunction with the Baker Avenue Underpass, but the cost was going to be too high. The city also later applied for a Transportation Alternatives Grant from the Montana Department of Transportation to assist in funding the viaduct project but was denied the funds. Because of this staff decided to scale back plans and use the already budgeted $250,000 the city had set aside for their local share of the project had they been awarded the grant from MDT.

“We feel that this is enough money to narrow the vehicular lanes on the viaduct to create two 12-foot wide multi-use trails on either side of the viaduct,” Workman explained.

He also added that while working on the Baker Avenue Underpass, Whitefish looked into the design provided by the city’s downtown master plan. It was determined that planters over the viaduct were too heavy to sustain and overall tree health would suffer in planters — another reason parts of the original design were removed for this undertaking.

At the recent meeting, Whitefish City Council discussed the idea of making the road narrower over the viaduct in order to increase the mixed-use paths along the side. Councilor Steve Qunell expressed concern over narrowing the roadway and said he believed that could exacerbate a potential emergency problem.

Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld disagreed, assuring Council that narrowing lanes of traffic would actually improve safety and congestion.

“I would argue that narrower lanes actually provide traffic calming measures… and by increasing the width and separating physically the shared-use path from the roadway I think we’re actually increasing safety over the viaduct.”

There was also concern about whether widening the paths on both sides of the road would take away the opportunity to create three lanes of traffic in the future if deemed necessary. Workman responded that there would still be enough space if that was needed in the future.

“Our main goal with this project is really just to increase the connectivity across the bridge for bikes and peds,” Workman added.

The design elements are also not set completely, Workman said there will be many more opportunities for public input before the project is finalized.

The viaduct for several years now has been identified by the city as a critical link between the north side of Whitefish and the downtown area to the south. In the 2015 Whitefish Downtown Master Plan, the Viaduct Improvement Project concept included narrowing lanes of traffic, widening pathways to create multi-use trails as well as a host of beautifying developments. The viaduct was also highlighted as a critical project to increase connectivity in Whitefish’s Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan created in 2017.