Kalispell City Council Stalls Downtown Redesign

A plan to redesign downtown Kalispell streets sits in limbo after the city council voted against applying for a federal grant that would have funded the project’s construction.

The redevelopment proposed downsizing Main Street to two driving lanes and a turn lane, widening sidewalks, and installing a variety of safety features on Main Street, First Avenue East and FirstAvenue West.

Councilor Sam Nunnally described walking downtown into local businesses without revealing his position on the council, hearing from “many” that said they did not believe the plan was a “good thing.” If the bypass was already completed, he said, “that might be it, but we’re not there.”

“Could I see where this plan would work? I certainly can,” Nunnally said. “Is it today? For me, I have to be a no.”

City developers are currently waiting to hear back on a federal grant application that would fund the completion of the U.S. Highway 93 bypass at the south end of Kalispell.

Councilors formally adopted the Main Street Safety Action plan in August of last year. It represents a culmination of city council discussions on redesigning Kalispell’s downtown streets stemming from the late 1970s, the most recent a 2017 proposal that sought to “restore the U.S. 93 highway corridor in Downtown Kalispell to ‘Main Street.’”

When U.S. officials established the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program in 2022, the city applied for a planning grant redesigning downtown streets with safety in mind. Thus, the Main Street Safety Action Plan was created.

City councilors held work sessions, community meetings, open houses, and public hearings on the proposed street redesign. It wasn’t until the final meetings leading up to the vote on applying for the SS4A implementation grant to fund construction that community members began packing into the council chambers to oppose the plan.

During Monday’s meeting, resident Susanne Wigginton mentioned the 2017 downtown renewal plan and the growth that the valley has seen since 2020. She compared going forward with the safety action plan to being forced to marry a high school sweetheart.

“I am here to ask you to not to force Kalispell into an irreversible arranged marriage, with a plan that may have been right years ago but isn’t now,” she said. “With so much in our future, please do not marry us to the past.”

The resolution to apply for the next grant in the federal SS4A grant program failed in a 5-4 vote.

Several councilors described their anguish over voting against a plan they originally supported, but said they were swayed after hearing the testimony from community members during the May 19 public hearing.

“I have determined after listening to our citizens I’m not in favor of any type of road diet on Main Street,” Councilor Jed Fisher said. “I’m not even favor of a 30-day diet, not even Ozempic or something.”

Councilors Sandy Carlson, Kari Gabriel, Jessica Dahlman and Ryan Hunter voted in support of the resolution. Councilors Chad Graham, Sid Daoud, Sam Nunnally, Jed Fisher and Mayor Mark Johnson opposed it.

Councilor Hunter said he backed the resolution because of the research done by engineers, adding that other cities have had success with similar plans.

“We are pursuing this plan because we have data showing it works,” he said. “Not just because it’s pretty, though I think it will be pretty, but because it works.”

Some councilors mentioned trying out a three-lane Main Street by blocking off roads to see how community members would react in real time.

Without funding, the safety action remains in place, though Development Services Director Jarod Nygren noted that they would need to look for funding in other places as the SS4A grant will be gone in the coming years.

“I still think we need to address the safety of students crossing Main Street, especially around St. Matthew’s,” Councilor Daoud said. “We will continue to pursue that regardless. This plan actually is going to stay here, it’s just unfunded.”

[email protected]