Request for bypass funding gains support

Kalispell and Flathead County officials, along with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, are throwing their support behind a state effort to pursue federal funding to convert the south half of the U.S. 93 bypass into a four-lane highway.

The Montana Department of Transportation wants to tap into a federal funding program that is offering $1.5 billion in discretionary grant funding through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD program, which has replaced the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery or TIGER grant program.

The BUILD grants are for investments in surface transportation infrastructure and will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. Ed Toavs, Missoula District administrator for the state Department of Transportation, recently told the county commissioners he believes the U.S. 93 bypass is a perfect candidate for the federal money.

To that end, the city of Kalispell, Flathead County and Kalispell Chamber of Commerce are now working with the state to develop a competitive application for an award.

For this round of BUILD Transportation grants, the maximum grant award is $25 million, and no more than $150 million can be awarded to a single state. At least 30 percent of funds must be awarded to projects located in rural areas, according to the federal highway department website.

Toavs estimates the total construction costs of completing the U.S. 93 bypass at between $20 million and $25 million.

The city and county have adopted resolutions supporting the BUILD grant application, and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce completed a letter of support that was accompanied by the signatures of 551 businesses, elected officials and individuals, the Chamber said in a press release. A similar letter was written and signed by 13 state legislators.

On Tuesday, July 10, the Kalispell Chamber will host an two open-house sessions in its conference room, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. and encourages the public to stop by to see potential plans for the bypass expansion and add their personal input. The Chamber office is located at 15 Depot Square in Kalispell.

Expanding the southern half of the bypass would include the removal of current roundabouts, widening the surface to four lanes, and improving access via full interchanges, overpasses and access ramps in four locations. The project would provide additional safety and quality-of-life improvements by alleviating traffic from local streets and furthering the intent to establish downtown Kalispell initiatives focused on localized traffic, the Chamber said.

The U.S. 93 bypass was accepted by the city of Kalispell and Flathead County in a 1994 Final Environmental Impact Study as a regional highway improvement project to divert traffic around Kalispell. In 2010 the two lanes of the southern half of the bypass were completed, and the four-lane northern portion of the bypass was completed in 2016.

Features Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.