Kalispell council declines to seek $25 million federal Safe Streets grant for Main Street reconfiguration

The Kalispell City Council on June 2 voted 5-4 against a resolution to authorize city staff to apply for a $25,000,000 U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All implementation grant to fund concept designs and construction for a Main Street safety project.

The grant application would have funded a package of changes the city’s consultants proposed to reduce crashes and improve pedestrian access on Main Street — including a three‑lane configuration with a center turn lane, upgraded crossings, and median and refuge islands. Jared Nygren, the city’s director of development services, told the council the application would be for $25,000,000 and that “this is federally designated monies specifically for safety projects.”

Council members who voted against the resolution said timing and overlapping projects — particularly the unfinished southern half of the Kalispell bypass — make pursuing the grant now risky. Councilor Graham, Councilor Dowd, Councilor Fisher, Councilor Nunnally and Mayor Johnson voted no; Councilors Carlson, Gabrielle, Dahlmann and Hunter voted aye.

The plan’s proponents and many…