Tronstad Overdevelopment Public Comment from Daniel Paul Gould Aimee Brunckhorst
From: Daniel Gould <skiersailor640@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 3, 2024 1:01 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Cc: stacey neary
Subject: EXTERNAL Tronstad Overdevelopment
Dear Members of the Kalsipell City Council,
I am writing to oppose the Tronstad Meadows/Whittail Crossing Development under
consideration. I live at 1384 Rose Crossing, and have seen firsthand the effects of irresponsible
bad planning on this neighborhood, especially with regard to enormous increases of traffic
load on a street never designed to handle it, and with no consideration on the impact to our
neighborhood.. This proposal looks to be more of the same, and will certainly add further
enormous impacts to Rose Crossing, Tronstad, Hwy 93, Whitefish Stage Road and Reserve
Street.
By conservative estimates, when built out this development will add at least 700 cars that will
be using Tronstad to access the other roads noted above. With no traffic light at 93, many
drivers will take the shortcut to Whitefish stage road and head south to either Rose Crossing
where there is now a traffic light, or head further south to Reserve. Current road
configurations will ensure major traffic jams at both intersections at rush hours, and will almost
certainly dramatically increase collisions and injuries.
Tronstad is currently a narrow two lane road with very steep berm drop-offs near the east end.
When I drive Whitefish Stage Road, the traffic generally moves at 50-60 mph in that area.
Imagine long lines of traffic waiting for safe enough conditions to pull out onto the street!
Imagine how much worse it will be on the other end at Tronstad and 93! Think about how
difficult it will be to get emergency response vehicles to to what will become very regular
traffic collisions. Think about emergency vehicles trying to get into this new neighborhood
through a traffic jam to assist with a fire or heart attack! Think about all the traffic that will
funneled onto Rose Crossing, and south onto Reserve. Go drive Reserve at rush hour, if you
dare. Imagine another several hundred vehicles lined up for a mile or two north waiting to
further add to that already jammed up traffic lane! Think about trying to cross at Rose
Crossing going either east or west. With all the additional north-south traffic on Whitefish
Stage, that will also back up traffic way back towards 93, and back towards the s curve near the
river. Think of all the addionsl traffic of heavy construction trucks on all of these roads lasting
for years as this is built out!
This is a really bad idea for everyone except the developers.
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If you want to approve a development of this staggering size, several prerequisites must be in
place prior to approval.
#1: Tronstad must be widened to a 4 or 5 lane road, with graded berms that allow vehicles to
pull over safely.
#2: The intersections of Whitefish Stage Road at both the Rose Crossing and Tronstad
intersections must be converted to roundabouts, to manage the high north-south traffic speed,
and allow other traffic to emerge safely in either direction. Roundabouts dramatically reduce
collisions and injuries as I'm sure you already know from the success we have had with them
on the bypass south of Kalspell,
#3: The Tronstad intersection with 93 should be converted to a full traffic light system, similar
to the one installed several years ago at the Rose Crossing/93 intersection.
Who would pay for this? Generally, the developer should pay for the upgrades required to
accommodate this huge population density. Additionally, some infrastructure money could be
made available in the city and county budgets to ensure safe passage through and around this
massive new community.
In short, the proposed development without the three proposals above is reckless and does
not well represent our community. If developments of this scope are to be approved they
must be planned to safely mitigate the damage and dangers they impose.
Sincerely,
Daniel Paul Gould
1384 Rose Crossing
Kalispell
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