Police target noisy cruising in downtown Kalispell

Yahoo

04-05-2025

May 4—As warmer weather arrives in Kalispell, so are motorists looking to flaunt their cars down Main Street.
Friday night cruising on the municipality's historic throughfare is seen by many as an opportunity for teens and adults alike across the Flathead Valley to show off their passion for automobiles. But the social activity has proved troublesome for nearby residents and business owners.
Downtown residents say they have been subject to the roar of unmuffled engines, burnouts, billowing exhaust and reckless driving for years, and not just on Friday nights, but each night of the week. Entrepreneurs have said the disruptive cruises have cost them business.
And that's why Kalispell Police Department has beefed up patrols along Main Street. Since April 11, three to four officers on overtime pay have been stationed every Friday night — when cruising is at its heaviest — from the intersection of Main and Idaho streets down to the Flathead County Courthouse to patrol traffic along the corridor. Residents can expect to see increased patrols until September, said Chief Jordan Venezio.
Over the first three Friday nights since the extra patrols were launched, over 120 traffic stops were made, he said.
"That's kind of our plan at this point, is heavy police presence, traffic enforcement, be visible," he said.
The heightened police presence has already brought back positive returns, Venezio said.
"I've had community members reach out about how much better it's been," he said.
But to Joe Biby, who lives on First Avenue East, the ruckus has only gotten worse. He said that on April 25 — a Friday — he saw dramtically more cars than usual.
"If traffic was stopped for a red light at [Main Street] and 11th Street, the trucks and cars were backed up to St. Matthew's school," he told the Inter Lake via email.
"It's very much a carnival atmosphere, a combination of 'Mad Max Fury Road' and the film, 'American Graffiti,'" Biby said.
While the act of aimlessly driving cars down a strip of road became popular in the 1950s, cruising was revitalized across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, including locally. The organization Kruise Kalispell formed in April 2020 as a means of safely escaping isolation and parading cars.
Kruise Kalispell, though, only organizes a few events a summer. The weekly cruises are largely unorganized and not associated with the group, according to Venezio.
Downtown residents say that the cruising culture has changed over the years as it veers away from the family-friendly atmosphere.
"That is an absolute joke," said downtown resident Teresa Narduzzi about the idea that cruising is family activity. "I wouldn't want my kids exposed to that."
Narduzzi has lived on Second Avenue East since 1993, and cruising has kept her away from Main Street.
"I don't go downtown at all anymore," she said.
In the summer months Narduzzi said she can't leave her windows open because of the roar of car engines, which are audible until 1 a.m. She said that drivers speed down side streets as well, creating a racing circuit of sorts.
The Police Department has placed an electronic speed radar sign near the intersection of First Avenue East and Eighth Street East, where Venezio said cruisers often turn around.
"It has gone on for so many years now it is absolutely frustrating and maddening," Narduzzi said. She added that she has not seen a noticeable drop in disruption since more patrols were dispatched.
"Some of us make a habit of leaving our homes on Friday evenings," Biby said.
Not everyone is dissatisfied with the city's response to the cruises. A recent letter to the editor from several downtown residents thanked the Police Department for taking steps to enforce traffic laws downtown and for placing the electronic radar.
THE ISSUE came before Kalispell City Council in October. While councilors mulled over potential regulations to limit the activity, cruisers, residents and businesses owners convened in City Hall to express both their support and frustration over cruising.
Councilors ultimately decided against implementing any new rules, arguing that existing laws dictating noise and reckless driving could be enforced better. Councilors also suggested self-policing, asking that those cruising be respectful regarding noise and to follow traffic laws.
Narduzzi saw the decision as a way of throwing the issue onto the Police Department without finding solutions to effectively enforce city code.
"If you are going to make the rules, figure out how you are going to enforce them," she said.
Chapter 17, section seven of Kalispell's municipal code states that "it shall be unlawful for any person to 'tune up' or 'race' the engine of any motor vehicle on any public highway in the city. The object of this provision is to prohibit loud or distressing noises."
Municipal code also requires mufflers on cars to be "in constant operation and of sufficient size to prevent excessive and unusual noise." Cut-outs are also prohibited.
But noise ordinances are hard to enforce, said Venezio, because finding the source of the ruckus among a sea of cars can prove difficult.
The Police Department has been unable to divert more resources to quelling cruising in the past over staffing shortages. Last summer, staffing was down 40% "and we were just trying to get to where we could respond to calls," Venezio said.
Now the department is almost fully staffed, having increased its ranks with four new patrol officers following a voter-approved public safety levy passed in March 2024.
But some residents expressed concern that if further action isn't taken to punish disruptive cruisers, pedestrian accidents are bound to occur.
Between 2018 and 2022, Main Street saw 258 motor vehicle crashes, First Avenue East saw 73 and First Avenue West saw 48, according to a study by Kittleson & Associates Inc. The corridor serves an average of 18,000 trips a day.
"Someone's eventually going to get killed," Narduzzi warned.
Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [e-mail].