The City of Kalispell, Flathead County, Montana Department of Transportation, and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce are encouraging individuals to add their input to how they foresee the expansion of the southern-half of the bypass to look during an open comment period on Tuesday, July 10. The open-house will take place in the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce conference room from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm.
The four organizations have been working together over the past month on an application for a federal BUILD grant that could potentially expand a portion of the southern-half of the Kalispell Bypass.
Currently, the expansion of the Kalispell Bypass is not on the Montana Department of Transportation's short-list of projects, but if awarded the BUILD grant, it could be expected to be drivable by 2020.
City Manager Doug Russell stated, “As the traffic counts are higher than initially expected, we are pleased to be working with the Montana Department of Transportation to find funding to ease the congestion through the southern half of the Bypass.”
If awarded the grant, the expansion would take place to the end of the sound-walls that are currently in place, removing roundabouts, expanding the surface area to four lanes, and adding new interchanges and overpasses to increase drivability and safety.