Dramatic growth could snarl traffic on U.S. 93

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Traffic volume on U.S. Highway 93 between Kalispell and Whitefish has nearly doubled since 1990, according to state highway data. It increased by more than a third since 2000.

But with future growth projected not only inside the two cities but in between, traffic volume in the near future could increase at an even faster rate.

Three large proposed developments between Whitefish and Kalispell could, as some critics say, create a whole new city — or two — by 2025.

The 1,836-acre Two Rivers neighborhood plan between U.S. 93 and U.S. Highway 2 calls for 6,700 housing units at full build-out, along with 475 acres of commercial and 40 acres of industrial projects.

The 3,000-acre Riverdale neighborhood plan calls for about a mile of commercial development north and south of Majestic Arena and 3,140 residential units providing homes for more than 7,000 people.

Glacier Town Center calls for more than 1.8 million square feet of office and commercial space and 632 residential units on 485 acres northeast of Reserve Drive.

Where all that additional traffic is going to go on the county's highways was a topic of discussion by county and city officials at their joint Fifth Monday meeting Oct. 29.

Whitefish mayor Cris Coughlin, who put the item on the agenda, recalled that the state's original plan nearly two decades ago was to build a five-lane highway from Somers all the way to Whitefish.

A divided highway would have protected the highway corridor by limiting accesses and forcing developers to build frontage roads, Coughlin said. She said she was excited to see an intersection under construction at Church Drive, just south of Majestic Valley Arena.

"Corridors need to be left as travel routes," she told the joint meeting. "Otherwise, we'll need bypasses to bypass bypasses."

She noted that Flathead County's new growth policy calls for limiting traffic lights to one per mile.

"That's 15 lights from Whitefish to Kalispell," she said. "That doesn't promote traffic flow."

The cities might be planning ahead by setting aside rights-of-way, Coughlin said, "but how do you connect the dots?"

Commissioner Gary Hall said the growth policy's recommendation for no more than one traffic light per mile was "pretty restrictive."

"Nobody on the U.S. 93 corridor owns a mile of frontage," he said.

One property owner could try to encourage others to cooperate in creating frontage roads, he said. Otherwise, the county would have to rely on eminent domain or costly land acquisitions for frontage roads or interchanges.

"Church Drive is a great example of where the developer steps up to the plate and pays for an interchange," Hall said.

Most development along the county's highway corridors, however, has not involved large subdivisions like Silverbrook. They typically involve small commercial lots.

"One by one, they'll all get accesses," commissioner Joe Brenneman said. "Then you'll get an accident and everyone will agree we need a traffic light. And when's the last time you heard of someone taking down a traffic light?"

Jeff Harris, the county planning director, pointed out at the Fifth Monday meeting that the same consultant was drafting transportation plans for Whitefish, Kalispell and the county.

"I see an opportunity to coordinate transportation planning between the jurisdictions," he said.

The county's Long Range Planning Task Force has produced reports on transportation and land-use issues and sees a strong link between the two.

"U.S. 2 and U.S. 93 are changing from mobility corridors to access corridors," task force member Myrt Webb told the joint meeting. "We need to study land use, not roads. That's what drives congestion."

Land-use patterns in the county are erratic and inconsistent, the land-use report concluded.

"The effects of this inconsistency were not apparent 15-20 years ago when the county population was near 50,000," the land-use report states, "but as the population nears and exceeds 100,000, the inconsistencies are becoming increasingly noticeable."

The transportation report notes that mobility on the county's main corridors is decreasing.

"We have a tendency to build four-lane highways and then allow multiple traffic lights and other access that slows traffic," it states.

Besides driving up the cost of providing services to rural residents, erratic development increases traffic and degrades viewsheds, the land-use report states.

"The most valuable views are the views from U.S. 2 and U.S. 93 north of Kalispell," it states. "It is difficult to see what community benefits accrue to allowing unrestricted commercial development along our major viewshed corridors."

Members of the task force from Whitefish have included Coughlin, councilor Velvet Phillips-Sullivan, former councilor Turner Askew and Karen Reeves.

Hall has been pessimistic about the task force's future. He said he helped get it started to replace the Flathead Regional Development Office, which was dismantled by Halls' political opponent, former commissioner Dale Williams. But lack of participation by the cities has Hall worried the task force will fade away.

"I need the cities to participate as a guiding force," he said.