A well-worn one-way residential street on the east side of Kalispell has been converted to two-way traffic.
The city of Kalispell permanently switched the entirety of the street on June 1. New traffic signs are in full display informing drivers of the new alignment, and city officials are urging motorists and pedestrians to remain extra alert during the transition period.
The street change is part of an expansive construction project along Third and Fourth avenues this summer.
The city is tackling a water replacement project along Fourth Avenue, spanning 15 blocks of work. Fourth Avenue, which is a one-way street traveling north, will be closed to through-traffic this summer, which spurred the change on Third Avenue, which previously sent traffic south.
Both Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue are being permanently converted from one-way to two-way streets.
The construction project will involve replacing an underground line from the 1920s that supplies water to neighborhood residents. Crews will replace the existing water main from Center Street to 14th Street. The project is slated to break ground this month and should last through fall.
The city reviewed whether to convert the two streets in recent years and received heavy public input from neighborhood residents in favor of changing from one-ways. Currently, Fourth Avenue East is a one-way street traveling north and Third Avenue East is a one-way headed south.
“We listened to residents who said they didn’t want a thoroughfare through their residential neighborhood,” Susie Turner, the city’s public works director, previously told the Beacon.
The city council approved the transportation plan after traffic studies were conducted that recommended the change.