The Montana Department of Transportation is starting work on a plan to inform traffic safety measures and guide reduced congestion along U.S. 93 as Kalispell and Whitefish grow.  

Known as the Kalispell-Whitefish Access Plan, the framework is meant to guide future construction projects by identifying access options along the highway as development occurs, according to the state department. Dozens of residents attended an open house at Easthaven Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon to learn more about the state’s plans for the corridor.   

Along with future growth, existing access points will also be examined. A poster displayed at the open house depicted examples of businesses sharing accesses to the highway rather than having separate ones, or businesses being limited to one access point rather than two. 

Still, Joel Boucher, preconstruction engineer for the Department of Transportation, said that no accesses will be taken away. 

“We’re not necessarily looking at specific treatments for intersections at this time,” Boucher added. 

The state department contracted Montana-based civil engineering firm Robert Peccia & Associates to conduct a study on the corridor that will help to create the final framework.  

Density of accesses, proximity of accesses to a major intersection, crashes and high usage approaches are some of the details that the study will identify, said April Gerth, the project manager with the firm.  

Gerth expects a draft of the study to be released in late spring or early summer. A final plan is expected to be completed by late fall or early winter.   

Kris and Kevin Hursh both live off Tronstad Road and attended the open house in case there were any specific plans for the road’s intersection with U.S. 93.  

“We wanted to see what potential plan, if there was one,” Kris Hursh said. “We’re going to have a ton of homes on our little road.”  

She said she worries about car accidents and traffic in the area as the city's population grows.   

The couple can’t take a left off Tronstad Road to go south, and instead must take Whitefish Stage to Rose Crossing before getting back on the highway. And getting off the highway onto Tronstad Road at a sharp angle is also worrisome.  

A 355-home subdivision was approved by City Council along Tronstad Road in November, which Kris Hursh said they fought tooth and nail against because of the subdivision’s high-density on what they see as an unsafe and undeveloped road.  

The developers eventually agreed to install a traffic light at the intersection when the development was approved. 

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.