City Gathers Community Input on Redesign of Downtown Kalispell Streets
Phase two of the city’s Main Street Safety Action Plan affords community members an opportunity to comment on the proposed street revamps before they are finalized by engineers in the third phase
By Zoë Buhrmaster
The council chambers at Kalispell City Hall swelled Thursday night as community members crowded around poster boards and tables with maps and sticky notes strewn over them. The open house to showcase phase two of the city’s Main Street Safety Action Plan afforded the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed street redesigns before the plans are finalized by engineers in the third phase.
The city drafted the plan in 2024 to evaluate and reshape downtown Kalispell’s streets to eliminate fatal and serious crashes as part of the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All Planning Grant Program. The city adopted the plan in August 2024, identifying hazard areas in the project’s first phase.
City Council selected three of the 10 downtown locations it previously identified as priorities — Main Street, 1st Avenue East and 1st Avenue West — to proceed into the secondary design phase, winnowing the options down based on the higher frequency of crashes and traffic congestion at the three locations, as well as on community feedback.
The street safety plan is part of a federal initiative through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the second-phase concept designs will be used to apply for the final federal implementation grant. If federal funding undergoes a freeze, which seemed likely earlier this week when President Donald Trump announced a pause on federal loans and grants across the country, the project’s timeline could potentially be pushed out. However, in light of the administration’s memo on Wednesday rescinding the spending freeze, Jarod Nygren, development services director for the city, doesn’t believe it will disrupt funding for the local initiative, other than perhaps tacking on additional time to secure the final grant.
“There will likely be some rule changes,” Nygren said about adjusting aspects of the project’s pacing under the new administration. “But not funding. I don’t see that changing.”
Nygren referenced some concerns community members and business owners raised about traffic and too much noise in downtown, saying they will work to incorporate the comments into the redesign.
The plan is poised to transform two of Main Street’s four driving lanes into additional pedestrian space and a turn lane and to add bicycle lanes to 1st Avenue West and East. All streets will incorporate pedestrian safety features such as flashing beacons, curb extensions, and high visibility crosswalks.
In the next two months, the safety action plan partners, including the city, Flathead County, DOT, consulting firm Kittelson & Associates Inc., and Big Sky Public Relations, will develop an implementation grant application — eligible for up to $25 million — for phase three and put it before the city council for approval before submitting it.
“It’s possible for people to be along for the ride,” said Rachel Grosso, planner for Kettleson Associates, said of the public engagement. “This is the time.”
Community members can go online to www.mainstreetkalispellsafetyplan.com where they can leave comments, questions and concerns on the project’s live docs about the concept design.