House Transportation Committee Considers Bill to Bring Sidewalks to Evergreen

The Montana House Transportation Committee on Feb. 15 heard testimony on House Bill 472, a proposal by Rep. Tony Brockman, R-Kalispell, that would allocate $1 million from the state general fund to construct a public sidewalk along U.S. Highway 2 in Evergreen. The bill, which faced no opponents during the hearing, received support from the superintendent of the Evergreen School District, as well as local business owners and community members.

Brockman, who grew up in Evergreen and attended the local public schools, outlined the dangers faced by Evergreen students, many of whom are forced to walk alongside Highway 2 while commuting to school, a route that does not currently have sidewalks. Brockman said that motorists frequently drive above the speed limit, putting children at risk.

“A child in my district is going to be hit and killed by a vehicle,” Brockman said. “It’s no longer a question of ‘If?’ it’s a question of, ‘When?”

Laurie Barron, superintendent of the Evergreen School District, emphasized that despite having nearly 700 students, the district is ineligible for transportation funding due to its small geographic size, requiring most students to walk to school.

“It is, as a driver, very scary driving along Highway 2 in the morning,” Darla Harmon, a founder of Evergreen Community Partners and a mother of two children who passed through the school district, said. “It’s long overdue for our community. Our kids deserve safe routes to school.”

Though the bill calls for a $1 million appropriation from the state general fund, Rob Stapley, rail, transit and planning division administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation, said that grant funding may be a more appropriate solution, as it offers more flexibility for addressing maintenance costs than a one-time appropriation from the state. Stapley said that funding options could include a Safe Streets for All Grant, a program out of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that has funded road safety projects in other Flathead Valley communities, or the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Alternatives program.