FVCC borders one of Montana’s busiest highways

(Fall 2011)

By EMILY MOHLER

The stretch of U.S. Highway 93 that runs adjacent to FVCC is one the most heavily traveled roads in the state of Montana, especially during the summer. While adjustments have been made to the stoplight at the school’s main entrance on Grandview enabling easier access to the campus, another traffic light at FVCC’s north entrance isn’t planned.

Studies indicate “a light was simply not justified,” said Ed Toavs, a Montana Department of Transportation construction engineer. “It was a cluster for the traffic on the mainline,”.

The traffic light at the Grandview entrance has been recently upgraded with radar detection and a turn signal.

“The college recently pushed for the new left turn signal for southbound Highway 93 traffic turning onto Grandview which helped with campus access,” said Steve Larson, director of physical facilities at FVCC.

While no major changes are in the works for the school’s current access off Highway 93, much is happening just down the road that will lessen the traffic and congestion in the area.

Alleviating some of the traffic will be U.S. 93 Alternate Route Bypass. The bypass is about 50 percent complete. The state is completing the final right-of-way acquisition and developing interim design options such as rebuilding the intersection at Highway 93 and Reserve to accommodate the bypass traffic. The Department of Transportation is also working with the city of Kalispell and private developers to align the roads accessing the Hutton Ranch Plaza and the large stores on the west side of the highway, just north of the FVCC campus.

A new road, the“Hutton Ranch Connector” is proposed to wind north of Hutton Ranch Road and connect to West Reserve by the Stillwater River bridge acting as a “traffic relieve valve,” Toavs said.

Kalispell-based LHC Inc. has been awarded the contract and will begin construction in November with a completion date planned for late summer 2012.

Increasing congestion on Highway 93 indicates the need is there for the new projects.

In the mid 1990’s there were about 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles passing the school each day. This number has grown to about 40,000 per day, making this section of Highway 93’s traffic flow comparable to some of most traveled roads in the State during peak summer traffic flow. The annual average daily traffic count is slightly less than Main Street in Billings, and neck and neck with Missoula’s North Reserve and 10th Avenue South in Great Falls.

Emily Mohler is a student in Journalism 101C, News Writing and Reporting.