09-23-15 Technical Advisory Committee MinutesKALISPELL TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF MEETING
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
CALL TO ORDER AND
The meeting of the Kalispell Technical Advisory Committee was
ROLL CALL
called to order at 1:30 p.m. Committee Members Present were: Tom
Jentz, Doug Russell, Ed Toays, Dave Prunty, Gary Engman, Bob
Vosen, Tim Larson, Mark Munsinger, Shelia Ludlow & Ted Luehr.
There were approximately 10 people in the audience.
APPROVAL OF THE
Vosen moved and Luehr seconded a motion to approve the minutes
MINUTES
of the September 11, 2013 meeting.
VOTE BY ACCLAMATION
The motion passed unanimously on a vote by acclamation.
HEAR THE PUBLIC
Joe Unterreiner, Kalispell Chamber of Commerce thanked Ed
Toays, his staff and MDT for diligently working to get the bypass to
bid and ready for construction.
OLD BUSINESS:
None.
NEW BUSINESS:
Chairman Jentz said that Carol Strizich, Statewide and Urban
Planning Supervisor, has asked the Kalispell TAC to formally
consider removing a portion of Urban Route 6737 (Reserve Place)
from the Urban System. It is currently classified as a Major
Collector on the Urban System; however, with the recent
construction of the latest phase of the US Highway 93 Alternate
Route, Reserve Place now actually functions as a local street. Jentz
also stated that Carol requested that TAC consider adding Old
Reserve Drive to the Urban System. Old Reserve Drive (route X-
15995N) approved as an off -system Major Collector by the
Transportation Commission and FHWA in 2008, distributes and
circulates traffic and serves as a connection to US Highway 93. It is
in the same geographic area as Reserve Place and is eligible for
placement on the urban system. There was general
acknowledgement that these two changes made sense in light of
recent highway construction on the bypass.
MOTION
Dave Prunty moved and Tim Larson seconded the motion to remove
Reserve Place from the Kalispell Urban System and in its place add
Old Reserve Drive.
ROLL CALL VOTE
The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
CONSIDERATION OF NEXT
Jentz introduced this item stating that with the beginning of
URBAN HIGHWAY
construction of the Highway 93 Alternate Route, a key component is
PROJECT
the construction of the Four Mile Drive interchange which is being
funded with urban funds. Jentz said by the time construction on
Four Mile Drive is complete the Kalispell urban fund account will
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Minutes of September 23, 2015
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be at a $0 balance. The city does accumulate $700,000 per year and
said it was a good time to start thinking about our next priority
project. Jentz said in 2013, when TAC selected Four Mile Drive as
our next project, at least 3 other road segments rose to the top
including Whitefish Stage Road from Idaho Street to West Reserve,
West Reserve from US Highway 93 to LaSalle, and Willow Glen
from Four Corners to the intersection of US Highway 2 and MT
Highway 35. Ed Toays indicated it was a good time to start thinking
about such projects however, we all acknowledged that we are at
least 10 years out from real construction because of the shear cost of
each of the projects. Toays proceeded with a brief summary of the
strengths and weaknesses of each project and finished by saying that
the most important component of any of these projects is can it
actually be delivered for construction in a timely fashion without
significant permitting or R/W acquisition delays.
Tim Larson brought up the question of extending Grandview Drive
from the college over to Whitefish Stage Road. The group concurred
that this was a worthy project but would also prove to be expensive
to build because of the bridge.
Toays said that there was wisdom in selecting a project that could be
dovetailed with other funding sources such as tapping the state
bridge fund. This approach could help extend local urban dollars.
Shelia Ludlow indicated that Kalispell should consider updating the
city transportation plan, last updated in 2006. The state would
provide 50% match and lead time to apply is typically one year.
TAC agreed that as soon as the bypass was open, the city should be
moving forward with a request for funding. This lead time would
allow the collection of some good data on the bypass prior to the
start of planning.
The TAC agreed to continue discussion on this issue and apply for
state funds to pursue a transportation update in the next 2 years.
UPDATE ON STATUS OF Ed Toays stated that they were fairly certain the bypass bid was the
VARIOUS CITY, COUNCY, largest single bid that has been awarded in MDT history coming in
STATE AND FEDERAL right at $34 million. Ed stated that there will be a ground breaking
HIGHWAY PROJECTS IN on October 7th and LHC is ready to begin construction on October
THE AREA 12, 2015. They have a very aggressive schedule and it is possible
that if all goes well, traffic may be driving on the bypass by late
November, 2016. The total project including landscaping and chip
seal will not be completed until early to mid - 2017.
Bob Vosen of MDT said they are trying an experimental pavement
preservation program on US Highway 93 South this week. It has
been used on several roads in Montana in the past several years and
has held up well. It is more durable than a chip seal but does not
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Minutes of September 23, 2015
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classify or hold up as well as an overlay.
NEXT MEETING DATE I The next meeting will be held when necessary.
ADJOURNMENT I The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:50 p.m.
A
Thomas R. Jentz
Chairman
Ja od Nygren
Recording Clerk
The minutes were approved as submitted/amended on ,8/�/2017.
Kalispell Technical Advisory Committee
Minutes of September 23, 2015
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