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4. Resolution 5651 - Resolution of Support - BypassSUBJECT Resolution of Support — US Highway 93 Alternate Route (Bypass) and Four Mile Drive MEETING DATE: September 3, 2013 Staff is concerned that the Montana Highway Transportation Commission is not fully committed to nor fully understands the need for the completion of the US Highway 93 Alternate Route (Bypass) and that the action to table the nomination of Four Mile Drive as the next urban project in Kalispell needs to be reversed. Background: The State Highway Commission met on July 251" in Missoula and tabled action to approve the extension of Four Mile Drive from Kidsports to Stillwater Road as our next urban Highway project. In addition, there was some discussion amongst the members of the Highway Commission that funding for the US Highway 93 Alternate Route (Bypass) in general needed to be revisited and priorities needed to be re-evaluated. In late 2012, MDT staff in Helena had asked Kalispell to select its next urban funded highway project. The Kalispell urban area, as part of the state urban highways program, receives approximately $600,000 a year for the purpose of improving roads within the Kalispell urban area that are on the Kalispell urban system. The city had a balance of $1.2 million in our fund and MDT was interested in starting some early design work on our next project. The last project funded with urban funds in Kalispell was North Meridian completed in 2006 and before that we funded improvements to Main Street as part of the US Highway 93 reconstruction of Main Street in 1983. As you can imagine, at $600,000/yr., it takes many years to accumulate adequate funds to undertake a project. In March, the Kalispell TAC met and unanimously recommended Four Mile Drive from Kidsports to Stillwater Road as our next urban funded project. This project would also involve the construction of an interchange, as Four Mile Drive is designed to travel over the top of the proposed US Highway 93 Alternate Route. TAC voted unanimously for this project noting that it is both a critical and a beneficial component to our overall transportation system. It is recognized as a priority project in our Kalispell Growth Policy and it is a recommended project in the Kalispell Area Transportation Plan 2006 Update (MSN 8 dated April 21, 2008). Furthermore TAC acknowledged that it would be 20 — 30 years to amass enough funding to undertake any other significant project such as Reserve Drive, Whitefish Stage or Willow Glen. However, the Four Mile Drive project was estimated to be $3.2 million and by the time final engineering was completed, we were expecting to have between $2.4 and $3.0 million in the bank. TAC agreed that this road would provide a necessary outlet for Kidsports congestion and that it would also aid in alleviating congestion on US Highway 93 North by offering a westerly access for FVCC, the hospital and the major commercial development at the north end of town. Additionally, it is significantly cheaper to construct Four Mile Drive now before the US Highway 93 Alternate Route is developed as there is no traffic to divert and no lost design and construction to replace. TAC is meeting on September 111h to formulate a response to the Highway Commission. We feel it is important to send a message of support for both the completion of the US 93 Alternate Route (Bypass) and nomination of Four Mile Drive as a necessary urban project. Staff is recommending that formal resolutions be adopted by both the city council and board of county commissioners. In addition, the chamber is undertaking a letter writing campaign and plans to take a bus to Helena to allow people to testify directly to the Highway Commission on September 261h, It is our goal to bring as many people as possible to the next Highway Commission meeting, set for September 261h in Helena, to make our concerns known and voice support for these projects. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that council approve the attached Resolution of Support for construction of the US Highway 93 Alternate Route (Bypass) and affirm the nomination of Four Mile Drive as the next Urban Highway Project. FISCAL EFFECTS: Passing the Resolution of Support will set in motion the support for completion of the US Highway 93 Alternate Route which in the short term will provide a significant economic boost in construction dollars to the community and in the long term will provide a crucial transportation link. ALTERNATIVES: Table the Resolution of Support and take no action. Respectfully submitted, Tom Jentz, Kalispell Planning Dept. Report compiled: August 20, 2013 RESOLUTION NO. 5651 A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SUPPORT OF THE HIGHWAY 93 ALTERNATE ROUTE (BYPASS) AS THE NUMBER ONE FEDERAL AND STATE HIGHWAY PROJECT IN KALISPELL AREA AND FURTHER ASKING THE MONTANA HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO ACCEPT FOUR MILE DRIVE AS THE NEXT KALISPELL URBAN HIGHWAY PROJECT. WHEREAS, in 1994 the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for US Highway 93 — Somers to Whitefish West recommended the construction of the Kalispell Bypass as part of the regional improvements to US Highway 93; and WHEREAS, in 2010 the southern half of the Bypass was completed with Federal Stimulus monies at a cost of $22.6 million; and WHEREAS, all but three parcels of land on the north half of the Bypass route have been purchased by MDT and these three parcels are set to close by the end of the year; and WHEREAS, all federal, state and local permitting and environmental clearances are in place for construction while final engineering and design are complete or nearly complete for all remaining phases; and WHEREAS, Kalispell is the only major city in Montana not served by an Interstate Highway which serves in other communities as a significant traffic route and safety valve for moving traffic across their communities; and WHEREAS, traffic and unsafe traffic congestion continues to increase in the urban Kalispell US Highway 93 corridor creating significant negative impacts as overflow traffic seeks routes through the city's residential streets and as summer traffic on US Highway 93 North in the north commercial/college neighborhood approaches 40,000 vehicles a day; and WHEREAS, a complete US Highway 93 Bypass has been the number one priority for the Kalispell Area for 10 years and the construction of only one half of the Bypass project fails to solve the negative traffic issues facing the City; and WHEREAS, the Four Mile Drive and the future intersection with the US 93 Bypass should be approved as the next Kalispell area urban highway project as it will be necessary to ameliorate the hazardous traffic congestion experienced in that area of urban Kalispell that is triggered by the highly successful and utilized Kidsports Athletic Complex, the expanding Flathead Valley Community College and the vigorous commercial center that has developed at the north end of Kalispell adjacent to US Highway 93 North; and WHEREAS, it is prudent and cost effective to develop the Four Mile Drive connector now before that portion of the Bypass is constructed or in concert with such Bypass construction so that future traffic is not disrupted and tax dollars are not wasted in redesign or demolition work to retrofit future construction. 101T, THEREFORE, BE IT A: -SOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City of Kalispell supports the US Highway 93 Bypass project in its entirety as the number one federal and state funded highway project in the Kalispell Area and encourages MDT to give it all due support and expedite funding to bring the remaining northern portion of this project to construction and completion. SECTION 2. The City of Kalispell supports the March 12, 2013 recommendation of the TAC and encourages MDT to nominate Four Mile Drive as the next urban aid highway project in Kalispell. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND SIGNED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL, THIS 3RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2013. Tammi Fisher Mayor ATTEST: Judi Funk Deputy City Clerk