The Downtown Forward Coalition has begun meeting with cruising enthusiasts, exploring ways to curb reckless driving along Main Street on Friday nights.  

The group hopes to restore the pastime to its roots — celebrating classic cars — while veering away from the disruptive and reckless behavior that has hurt downtown businesses and frustrated nearby residents.  

“Downtown Forward Coalition is 100% supportive and recognizes the importance of what true Americana cruising does for the community,” said Lorraine Clarno, president of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, which is part of the coalition.  

“We don’t want to stop cruising. We want it to be safe, family oriented and not harm or impact the businesses downtown,” she added.  

While discussions are in the early stages, Clarno said one way to revive respectful cruising could be enticing muscle car drivers to return to the weekly events after many were driven away by others’ reckless behavior.  

“That might be a signal to some of these folks that own these classic cars,” Clarno said.  

Jodie Cross, a real estate agent and advocate for cruising, also took part in discussions with the coalition. At an April City Council meeting she suggested Kalispell consider building a sanctioned drag strip to move the reckless activity off Main Street.  

Anaconda is home to a strip that is open to the public when there aren’t scheduled events, she said.  

Cross urged councilors against ending the activity altogether, citing its positive impact on young people.   

“A lot of these kids, at home, they are dealing with parents that are alcoholics, drug addicts they have nothing better to do. And I would personally rather have them cruising and dumping their money into a piece of crap Ford ... than to dump it into drugs and alcohol,” she said. 

WITH THE arrival of warmer weather, motorists have begun flaunting their cars along Main Street. The Kalispell Police Department has likewise ramped up its presence downtown on Friday nights. 

Three to four patrollers have been stationed in the neighborhood to look for disruptive behavior like rolling coal, burnouts and speeding, according to Kalispell Police Chief Jordan Venezio. 

“Cruising, that’s something that they have done for generations, and we don’t want to stop that,” Venezio told the Inter Lake. “At the same time, there are significant and legitimate concerns of reckless driving on Friday nights.”  

Kruise Kalispell, a registered nonprofit since 2020, only organizes a few events a year. The weekly cruises are largely unorganized and not associated with the group. 

Some residents remained dissatisfied with efforts to prevent dangerous driving.   

Over the past year, First Avenue East resident Joseph Biby has repeatedly raised concerns about the downtown festivities.  

“The event is no longer vintage cars and ‘American Graffiti’ and apple pie and Chevrolet,” Biby told councilors in April. “It’s the speeding in our neighborhoods. It’s the reckless driving. These are adolescents. They’re full of hormones and they’re chasing each other.”  

Some downtown businesses have also suffered from the Friday night craziness. Kalispell Grand Hotel has lost significant business from guests who checked in on Friday and canceled their three-night stay the next morning after a restless night of loud cars, according to Clarno. 

Biby criticized Council for abandoning an effort to change city code to curb cruising in October 2024. The proposed ordinances were geared toward limiting the number of times a vehicle can pass a certain point.  

“The taxpaying residents of Kalispell are negatively impacted every Friday night by the systemic failure of the people whose job it is to represent and protect all Flathead County citizens,” he said.  

COUNCILORS ECHOED their support for cruising the downtown strip during the April meeting.  

Councilor Jed Fisher argued that most motorists are respectful because they take pride in the vehicles they’ve spent hours restoring. He added that laws should be enforced and illegal behavior punished.  

“Support our police doing their job. If there’s an idiot doing something wrong, I hope they throw the book at him, because word will spread,” he said. 

Councilor Kyle Waterman, who represents Ward 3, which includes downtown, said much of the reckless behavior comes from a small number of bad actors. He said he enjoys rolling down Main Street on Friday evenings with his 1967 Chevy.  

“I try to idle it quietly as I go by Mr. Biby’s house but usually my choke is open at that time, so I’m sorry about that,” he said.   

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 406-758-4407 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.