Montana Department of Transportation

Project Description

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and the City of Whitefish initiated a community-wide transportation planning process to assist both entities, as well as the community at large, in guiding transportation infrastructure and implementation over the planning horizon (the year 2030). The City of Whitefish has numerous transportation related issues that affect the efficiency and operational parameters of the existing transportation system. Additionally, there are numerous available lands directly adjacent to the City proper that could develop over the future years and possibly result in additional transportation impacts to the community’s residents. This is coupled with the lack of good east/west connectivity in the community, as well as limited crossings of the Whitefish River. All of this has necessitated the urgency of this planning effort.

Although a variety of transportation planning has taken place in the community over the years, this is the first comprehensive, citywide effort. Transportation is a major concern to city residents today. The city expects concern to remain high as growth continues and the challenges of accommodating travel needs become more difficult. A comprehensive Transportation Plan provided an opportunity for city and state officials, staff and residents to work together to develop the innovative approaches necessary to plan and implement a transportation system to serve the city of Whitefish well into the future.

A component of this traditional transportation planning effort is the preparation of an Urban Corridor Study of US Highway 93 through the downtown. This component of the overall project focuses on the downtown environment and both local and through traffic needs. Coordination with the community’s Downtown Master Plan and the recommendations for livability, aesthetics, and land use was conducted. This work effort reviewed the information completed in the U.S. Highway 93 - Somers to Whitefish Final Environmental Impact Statement (1994). This corridor study sub-component to the overall community’s transportation needs updates all relevant information concerning traffic flow, and analyzes design options under "pre-NEPA" guidance and criteria. The goal is to analyze reasonable design options and recommend improvement options based on the original EIS and ROD’s purpose and need. The corridor limits studied were those previously examined under the Whitefish Urban Project which begins on U.S. Highway 93 at 13th Street, continues north on Spokane Avenue to 2nd Street, continues west on 2nd Street, and ends just west of Baker Avenue.

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