Thank you re. Main revision Public Comment from Connie Lamb Aimee Brunckhorst
From: Connie Lamb <blacksheep59901 @hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2025 9:49 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Thank you re. Main revision
I would like to thank the council members who voted against applying for the grant to revise downtown
Main. Assuming the comment session was just a formality because you had already made your decision, I sent
my comments to the Montana DOT in the naive belief they might be more interested in an efficient flow of
traffic on what is actually part of Hwy 93. Not only do they support the project, I found out the free federal
pork earmarked for this is actually from DOT's barrel. I am not surprised, I worked for the DOT in Helena in the
70s. The unstated goal of every division was to hire unneeded staff and buy unnecessary equipment to pad
their budget so the next year's would be bigger than the last. Federal funds are only free while you are
spending them, the taxpayers are constantly refilling the tank. If Kalispell cannot use those funds for the
parking structure we actually need, turning Main into a de facto parking lot is not the solution. And the idea of
retaining parallel parking when there is only one lane each direction would hold up long lines of traffic if a
driver was inconsiderate enough to try it. Or people like me, who haven't parallel parked since their driving
test, will avoid Main businesses completely. Realistically, there are very few months in which the weather
would be nice enough for outside dining, exhaust fumes are not conducive to ambiance, and there might not
be many eating establishments when the project completed anyway. We lived here when North Meridian was
being revised and lack of customer access closed several of those businesses permanently. Safety because the
traffic is not moving is not an improvement.
If you would like to see how one lane each way and center turn lane work in tourist season, drive Hwy 93
through Polson in the summer. Not only can drivers not turn left into a business they might like to patronize,
some businesses put signs out asking drivers to let their customers turn right out of their lot. Usually, "safety"
is the magic word that guarantees a proposal will pass. Thank those of you who were more objective. I have
no illusions this proposal won't resurface, but I appreciate that it is parked for now. Another unfortunate
Montana town can take the lead on the Safe Streets for All Initiative. These are the kind of frivolous projects
we were hoping the DOGE team would eliminate.
Connie Lamb
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