Whitefish council adopts Safe Streets for All action plan to qualify for federal grants

The Whitefish City Council on Jan. 21 unanimously adopted Resolution 25-2 to adopt a Safe Streets for All (SS4A) action plan developed with federal grant funding to reduce serious traffic injuries and fatalities.

The plan, prepared by RPA with city staff and a task force, lays out engineering, education, enforcement and policy recommendations and prioritizes specific projects eligible for future SS4A demonstration and implementation grants. City staff told council the planning grant budget for the Safety Action Plan is $200,000 (a $160,000 grant and $40,000 in city funds).

City staff opened the public hearing and summarized outreach. The planning process included four task force meetings, interviews with local safety partners including the Whitefish Police Department and Whitefish School District, two public open houses, a council work session, a “walk and roll” event, and an online public comment map. Sarah and Carrie of RPA presented highlights, saying the plan’s umbrella goal is to eliminate fatalities and suspected serious injuries by 2030 and that the draft had been open for public review from Dec. 20 to Jan. 20.

The draft identifies four focus areas—nonmotorist-involved crashes, intersection crashes, speed-related crashes and inattentive-driver crashes—and organizes recommendations into a toolbox of strategies, projects prioritized by short/medium/long timeframes, programs and policies. Program recommendations include a nonmotorized-audit and a nonmotorist-count program to establish baseline walking and biking activity. Project recommendations singled out three sites RPA judged most competitive for grant funding: the Thirteenth Street and Spokane Avenue intersection, US-93 south of town, and First Street at Baker Avenue.

RPA and staff told council they received six comment sets during the review. Comments included requests for improved crossings and sidewalks on Wisconsin Avenue and Denver Avenue; suggestions to align the plan with an updated memorial vision plan and the downtown business district master plan; and technical suggestions from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), which asked for more explicit maintenance-responsibility language and clearer rationale for the plan’s focus-area selection. RPA said it would make minor edits to address those comments and bring a final plan back as the exhibit to the resolution.

Speakers from the public sought clarification on e-bikes and local pedestrian-count data; one commenter suggested using a private security camera dataset to help quantify use on a popular riverfront segment. Council discussion included a suggestion to defer substantive direction until a full council is present; staff recommended adoption with the understanding the final edited plan would be returned on a subsequent consent agenda with a redline or change list for council review.

Councilor Steve moved to adopt Resolution 25-2 with a suggested wording amendment offered by a public commenter; the motion was seconded by Councilor Norton and carried unanimously. Council and staff noted adoption makes the city eligible to apply in upcoming SS4A funding cycles (federal funding cycles expected in fiscal years 2025 and 2026) and that annual reporting to the federal government is a grant requirement.

Staff said some low-cost, short-term projects and a volunteer-assisted nonmotorist-count program could begin regardless of larger grant outcomes, and that staff expects to request permission from council to pursue grant applications for the shortlisted projects.

The city manager and RPA indicated that the final, revised plan would be incorporated into the resolution exhibit and returned on the consent agenda at a subsequent meeting, and that staff would provide either a redlined PDF or a list of changes made in response to comments.