$3.5M Tiger grant to fund 2nd St. project

Traffic in downtown Whitefish could be flowing more smoothly one day, thanks to federal stimulus money the city will use for improvements to Second Street between Spokane and Baker avenues.

The city learned last week it was awarded a $3.5 million federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). No direct local matching funds are required.

Key elements of the Second Street project include a modern, coordinated traffic signal system, the addition of left turn lanes, ADA-compliant crosswalks and parking. The work calls for a curb-to-curb reconstruction of the U.S. 93 roadway between Spokane and Baker avenues, during which the city will upgrade sewer and water lines.

In addition to addressing key transportation constraints and bottleneck, the project will continue the revitalization of downtown Whitefish as called for in the city's Downtown Master Plan.

Construction will take place in 2011, possibly in the spring and fall shoulder seasons so as not to impact tourist businesses. The last phase of the Central Avenue infrastructure and streetscaping project, from Railroad to First streets, is slated to take place in 2011, and some type of coordination would be needed.

Only 3 percent of 1,400 applications nationwide were funded, and Whitefish was one of only two successful applications in Montana. It is estimated that the TIGER grant project will create or retain 97 jobs in the Whitefish area.

City senior projects engineer Karin Hilding and WGM Group of Missoula collaborated on the successful grant application. Key support for the city's grant application came from Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, State Senator Ryan Zinke, school superintendent Jerry House, Heart of Whitefish chairman Ian Collins and other local officials, citizens, businesses and community groups.