County puts south half of U.S. 93 bypass first

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

But commissioners want northern connection as well

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County commissioners Wednesday voiced their support for building the south half of the U.S. 93 bypass first.

However, they also want some kind of road built along the north half, even if it's only two lanes.

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Commissioner Gary Hall initially made a motion recommending that the Montana Department of Transportation build the south half of the 8-mile bypass route first. Construction of the north half would follow whenever additional federal funding becomes available.

That motion later was withdrawn and replaced by Commissioner Joe Brenneman's recommendation that the south half be built first, "as long as it includes connectivity through the north half."

"I don't care which half is built first, but I want connectivity along the whole thing," Brenneman said, during a brief discussion of the issue.

His motion passed unanimously.

Brenneman sat in on an earlier meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee, which supported building the north half of the bypass first.

He voted in favor of that option at the time, but after reflection thought it was a mistake.

"In retrospect, I should have pushed for a two-lane road [along the entire bypass route]," he said. "I think we need to take the money we have and build a bypass that gets the trucks off Main Street. Building half of it won't accomplish that goal."

Previous estimates from Stelling Engineers, the firm that's handling the project design work, indicate that a two-lane, grade-separated bypass - one that has overpasses or underpasses at the intersections, so traffic can flow freely - would cost about $65 million, compared to $76 million for the four-lane option.

A two-lane, at-grade route - with traffic lights at all the intersections - would cost more than $40 million.

Congress has allocated about $30 million for the bypass construction, with another $8

million or so expected next year. The Federal Highway Administration recently signed off on the revised environmental analysis, authorizing a four-lane bypass.

Neither Commissioner Hall or Commissioner Bob Watne supported Brenneman on the two-lane option.

"We need to build it to full capacity, so we don't regret someday not doing it right," Hall said. "We always do that in Flathead County - we don't think long term."

A final decision regarding which half of the bypass to build first rests with the Department of Transportation.

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Also on Wednesday, the commissioners unanimously agreed to establish a nine-member impact fee advisory committee.

The committee, which must include a representative of the development community as well as a certified public accountant, will investigate the possibility of charging impact fees to pay for future infrastructure improvements. Its recommendations would go through the commissioners for further action.

The county will begin advertising shortly for anyone interested in serving on the committee.