Latest news with #JarodNygren
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kalispell residents invited to weigh in on Main Street road diet
May 19—Kalispell residents can weigh in on City Hall's plan to slim down Main Street on Monday night. City Council will hold a public hearing on the revitalization project at 7 p.m., May 19 in City Hall. The Main Street Safety Action Plan, adopted by Council last summer, identified high-risk intersections and streets downtown. Main Street, First Avenue East and First Avenue West were prioritized by Council to receive an array of traffic safety upgrades. The three thoroughfares saw a combined 379 crashes between 2018 and 2022. But a proposal to slim down Main Street, reducing it to one lane in either direction along with a dedicated left turn lane, has drawn criticism. The change would see the thoroughfare fitted with sidewalks up to 10 feet wide to accommodate benches and restaurant furniture. Parallel parking would remain available on both sides of the street. While some downtown business owners invited the changes believing they will bring more commerce to an area lacking foot traffic, others worry shops won't survive the shuttering of Main Street for construction. Residents have also expressed concern over traffic delays that could come with shedding a lane on either side, but city planners have said congestion will not be an issue. Development Services Director Jarod Nygren said traffic is projected to be delayed an extra minute and a half by 2045. Lane reduction, also known as a road diet, is a widely used, low-cost practice meant to enhance safety for road users, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Road diets have been found to reduce crashes up to 47%. The city is looking to tap into a federal grant program to fund the $27 million project, but language in the program's notice for funding opportunity issued under President Donald Trump's administration says lane reductions would be "viewed less favorably" by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Council is looking to tap into the Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant program, which historically doles out $25 million, requiring a 20% match. The program was established under former President Joe Biden and the deadline to apply is June 26. First Avenue East and First Avenue West would be equipped with pedestrian safety measures including flashing beacons, high visibility crosswalks and sidewalk-level bike lanes between Fifth Street and Center Street. St. Matthew's Catholic School would get a designated parking area along the school's frontage for pick-ups and drop-offs along with flashing crosswalks. Roundabouts would be installed on Main Street's intersection with 11th Street West and its intersection with 13th Street East and Airport Road. Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Council appears likely to seek $25 million grant to redesign Main Street in Kalispell
Apr. 30—Kalispell City Council on Monday appeared in favor of applying for a $25 million federal grant to fund the long-planned transformation of Main Street. Councilors at the April 28 work session expressed both excitement and trepidation over implementing the Main Street Safety Action Plan, which was adopted by the body in August and identified high-risk, high crash intersections and streets in downtown Kalispell. Out of 10 roads studied, Council prioritized Main Street, First Avenue East and First Avenue West for upgrades with an estimated cost of $27 million. Changes include reducing Main Street to three lanes of traffic, widening sidewalks and installing pedestrian safety measures. Probably the most notable aspect of the plan is the slimming down of Main Street to one lane of traffic headed in either direction — north or south — along with a dedicated left turn lane. Also called a road diet, the technique is intended to improve pedestrian safety and reduce crashes, according to the Federal Highway Administration. City planners said there are anticipated increases in travel time, but not by much, and not until years in the future. Development Services Director Jarod Nygren said that traffic is projected to be delayed an extra minute and a half by 2045. He said that Kalispell has undergone several road diets in the past 30 years. First Avenue East and First Avenue West once boasted four lanes of travel before being shaved down to three "and at that time the world was going to end, and it didn't," he said. "It won't be standstill gridlock," said Rachel Grosso with Kittleson & Associates Inc., the firm hired to create the plan. She said traffic would look like a moving queue from one intersection to the next. Main Street currently sees around 18,000 cars a day, with that figure likely spiking in the summer. Pedestrian safety measures would also go in on Main Street, First Avenue East and First Avenue West, including flashing beacons, curb extensions and high visibility crosswalks. The improvements aim to promote walkability and storefront activity. St. Matthew's Catholic School would get 12-foot-wide designated parking area along the school's frontage for pick-ups and drop-offs as well as flashing crosswalks at the nearby intersections. Roundabouts would also be built at the intersection of Main Street and 11th Street West and the intersection of Main Street with 13th Street East and Airport Road. "This I believe will have a tremendous impact on our Main Street and be such an incredible improvement to enhance businesses and everything," said Councilor Ryan Hunter. He said that the new road design may minimize the reckless driving connected with cruising downtown Kalispell. Councilors Chad Graham and Kari Gabriel emphasized that the significant changes may be a hard pill for citizens to swallow. "I see this no matter how it happens being painful for people who don't like change. And we have a lot of them living here," Gabriel said. "So if we get through it, it's going to be great. But it's going to be hard to get through." "This is some radical change to the downtown," Graham said. "I have mixed feelings on this." Kalispell resident Jamie Quinn called the project "lipstick on a pig but worse," arguing that Main Street is a well-maintained road, but the lack of businesses prevents people from strolling through town. "[Downtown is] not a fun place to be, you got two or three places that people actually want to go to, but they don't want to go into downtown because there's nothing to go to. Invest in downtown that way," Quinn said. Susanne Wigginton, who lives and works downtown, also objected to the project during public comment. She said that there were not enough crashes to warrant such drastic changes, arguing that issues like blind intersections and a lack of stop signs on certain intersections were more pressing problems. A study conducted by Kittleson & Associates Inc. found that between 2018 and 2022, Main Street saw 258 motor vehicle crashes, First Avenue East saw 73 and First Avenue West saw 48. During that same time frame, there were 45 crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians downtown, eight of which occurred on Main Street. Bob Vosen, district administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation and a Kalispell resident, was in favor of the project but expressed concern over placing Main Street under construction before finishing the reconfiguration of the southern end of the U.S. 93 Bypass. "Right now, we've got essentially six lanes going through town. If we take two of those away before we build the replacements, we do have concerns," Vosen said. But time is of the essence to secure funding. Applications for the Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant are due at the end of June, and the pot of money is not expected to come back. "This program is not gonna be around much longer," Nygren said. The Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant program historically dolls out $25 million, requiring a 20% match. The discretionary grant program was established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by former President Joe Biden and has since been under attack by President Donald Trump's administration. Council first must sign off on a resolution of intent to apply for the grant following a public hearing. Through the same federal program, the city was awarded a $2.4 million grant in November 2024 to improve Oregon Street. But the City is still waiting on a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. COUNCIL ALSO debated across-the-board program and park reservation fee increases for Parks and Recreation Department programs. The increases are in part due to Kalispell Public School District 5 proposing to charge fees for use of their facilities. "That will have a significant cost on some of our programs," said Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher. Fincher said a gentleman's agreement has historically been in place where the city and Kalispell Public Schools use each other's facilities for free. If adopted, it would mean a roughly 8% to 20% increase in program fees, ranging from the Harry Potter Camp to after-school programs. "We have to recoup our costs, just like any other business would," said City Manager Doug Russell. The fee increases would also account for rising operational costs, said Fincher. The department has regularly come to Council with proposed fee increases every two to three years. Councilors were wary about the risk of making well-used programs inaccessible but saw it as crucial to keep them running. "It's a real asset to the community, these programs that we have," Hunter said. He and Councilor Sid Daoud saw the cost increases as reasonable. "The cost of everything has gone up," Daoud said. Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Revising downtown: Kalispell seeks federal funding to upgrade Main Street
Apr. 13—Reducing the thoroughfare to three lanes of traffic, allowing for widened sidewalks to accommodate strolling shoppers and tables for dinners outside of restaurants, is part of Kalispell's future vision for Main Street. With that concept in hand after the City Council adopted the Main Street Safety Action Plan in August, Kalispell is now considering a federal grant to fund a redesign of the road, along with First Avenue East and First Avenue West. Concept designs were created for the three streets that were designated as the top priority in need of improvements, and Development Services Director Jarod Nygren said some minor design tweaks are still being worked out after public input. "Our goal is not for these things just to sit on the shelf, it is to get them implemented whether that's this year, next year or a couple years down the road," Nygren said. The need for improved safety is set out in the city's Main Street Safety Action Plan, which identified several downtown roads and intersections as having a high crash and injury risk. The plan lays out a framework with the goal of eliminating fatal and serious injury crashes downtown. The study showed that between 2018 and 2022, Main Street saw 258 crashes, First Avenue East saw 73 and First Avenue West saw 48. During that same time frame, there were 45 pedestrian and bicycle crashes downtown, eight of which occurred on Main Street. To help alleviate these high-risk areas, design concepts for Main Street and First Avenue East and West Street show pedestrian safety features including flashing beacons, curb extensions and high visibility crosswalks. The designs aim to promote walkability, bike access and storefront activity. Main Street would become one lane of traffic both north and southbound, along with a dedicated left turn lane. Wider sidewalks up to 10 feet in size would allow for benches and space for restaurants to put out amenities like tables, according to renderings. Parallel parking would still exist on both sides of the street. At the southern end of the Main Street corridor, the design shows roundabouts at 11th Street West and the 13th Street East/Airport Road intersection. First Avenue East and West would be modified to include sidewalk-level bike lanes between Fifth Street and Center Street and raised intersections to slow traffic. Curb extensions would also shorten crossing distances with the goal of improving pedestrian visibility. The street would include dedicated left-turn lanes and parallel parking on both sides. TO FUND construction, the city is looking for funding to the tune of $25 million, which is the amount historically doled out through the Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant program. There was some uncertainty whether the grant application would open in March due to a new presidential administration, but Nygren said that it was released. "The program is not scrapped," he said. The discretionary grant program was established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by former President Joe Biden. Donald Trump's administration vied to place a freeze on funding through the mammoth spending bill, but the effort was upheld by federal judges. Nygren expects Council to hold a work session this month or next to decide whether to move forward with submitting a grant application, which is due at the end of June. The grant requires an up to 20% match, which Council will have to consider. But while the grant would get the ball rolling on construction, it would not cover the costs to improve each street, according to Nygren. "Costs today are pretty high, so we likely won't be able to fund everything, at least not in this grant cycle," said Nygren. "But these planning documents don't go away." TEN ROADS were studied in the downtown area as part of the Main Street Safety Action Plan developed for the city by Kittleson & Associates Inc. During the study period, there were 2,234 crashes in the plan area, which is roughly south of Four Mile Drive and north of 18th Street East. Seven of those crashes were fatal and 38 resulted in serious injury. By looking at crash history, severity, frequency and risk, the plan found East and West Idaho Street, Sunset Boulevard, Whitefish Stage, Conrad Drive, North Meridian and Main Street as high-risk roads. This means they were more likely to have fatal or serious injury crashes compared to the rest of downtown. High crash intersections were also identified at various points along U.S. 93 and U.S. 2, including intersections with Four Mile Drive, Northridge Drive and Meridian Road. The crossings were determined as high risk after being screened for speed, traffic volume, number of lanes, and pedestrian and bicycle generators. Several intersections also receive more traffic than they can handle, especially during the morning and evening peak periods, according to city data. All of downtown is considered transportation disadvantaged, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. This means the community is historically underserved by the transportation system based on access, safety, environment, socioeconomic and health data. In January, the city hosted a series of pop-up events for feedback on the concept designs. The city also hosted corridor-specific meetings for business and property owners. Similar events were also held in March. THROUGH THE same federal funding program, the city was awarded a $2.4 million grant in November 2024 to improve Oregon Street, which Nygren said has been subject to speeding and safety concerns. The grant also requires matching funds. Oregon Street will get high visibility crosswalks and curb extensions along with two mini roundabouts to help slow down drivers in the residential neighborhood. The surrounding area will also receive sidewalk and curb ramp repairs. Nygren said that the city is still waiting for an agreement with the Federal Highways Administration to finalize the funding, so he does not know when construction would start. He expects the Oregon Street project to be completed well before upgrades to downtown. Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@ A photo rendering shows what Main Street, looking north toward First Street, could look like as part of Kalispell's Main Street Safety Action Plan developed by Kittleson & Associates Inc.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kalispell Council to vote on grant for shared-use path along U.S. 93
Apr. 7—The shabby dirt path forged by people walking along U.S. 93 between Logan Health Medical Center with downtown Kalispell may be getting a facelift. City Council on Monday will decide whether to apply for a state grant to fund construction of a shared use path on the east side of U.S. 93. (Sunset Boulevard) going from Wyoming Street, up along the Buffalo Hill Golf Course to Mission Street. Council meets at 7 p.m., April 7 in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E. The existing section "lacks any connectivity (other than a dirt path), offers poor site distances, has numerous access intersections and access points with limited control and has traffic speeds of 35 [miles per hour] and higher," read a city memo from Development Services Director Jarod Nygren. "When combined, these conditions make walking or biking this heavily traveled route unsafe and impractical, limiting connectivity between two major employment centers in the community," continued the memo. Upgrading the walkway is part of a larger project to build out the shared-use path further north to Bountiful Drive. The entire project, though, would cost around $2.68 million, and the Montana Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternatives grant could only cover building the southern portion, which is an estimated $648,000. If Council wanted to build the entire path in one go, they would have to throw in roughly $1.2 million, which Nygren said has not been placed in the budget. Council could wait until another round of grant funding pops up to pay for the rest of the project, he said. Kalispell has used the grant program in the past for trails along U.S. 93 and Four Mile Drive. The city hired KLJ Engineering to prepare the path designs. The firm recommended following the existing horizontal and vertical alignments of Sunset Boulevard, adding a 30-inch curb and gutter, a 6-foot boulevard and a 10-foot paved path along the northeasterly side of the road. DEVELOPERS of the Timberwolf Ridge subdivision are requesting final plat approval for phase one of the development. The entire development would see the construction of up to 400 apartment units across six buildings at 605 Stillwater Road at the intersection with Timberwolf Parkway. Phase one contains around 9 acres, which includes three lots, a stormwater facility and public road areas, according to a city memo. Council approved the preliminary plat in March 2023 and the development has since met all necessary conditions of approval and infrastructure has been installed and accepted or bonded for, according to city staff. COUNCIL IS also expected to vote on authorizing a grant application that would connect the resident-owned neighborhood Morning Star Community with the city's wastewater system. The community has been using private septic systems installed in 1973 and are nearing the end of their useful lifetimes, according to a city memo. NeighborWorks Montana, on behalf of Morning Star, is requesting permission from Council to apply for a $100,000 state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation grant that would fund building the needed infrastructure to tap into the city sewer. "If awarded, these funds will significantly reduce the financial burden on residents by assisting with the replacement of aging water and sewer systems," read a letter to Council from Daniel Maiden, the cooperative housing director for Neighborworks Montana. COUNCIL IS also expected to vote on adopting a hazard mitigation plan developed by Montana Disaster and Emergency Services. The 2024 Western Montana Region Hazard Mitigation Plan is meant "to identify and reduce long-term risks from disasters or natural events" across Montana, according to city officials. The Flathead County portion of the plan began being developed in 2022 and was approved by the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this year/ Council will also vote on a request by Renaissance Senior Care to expand its assisted living facility. The senior care facility that sits off Liberty Street needs a conditional use permit to expand from 13 to 15 beds. The expansion was recommended to Council by the Planning Commission in March. Immanuel Living is requesting that the city authorize the issuance of a conduit bond package of up to $100 million to refinance existing debt for which the city issued a conduit bond and borrow additional funds for further capital improvements, according to a city memo. Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@
