Kalispell council rejects $25 million federal grant application to redesign Main Street

The Kalispell City Council voted 5–4 on June 2 to decline a resolution that would have authorized staff to apply for a $25 million U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) implementation grant to reconfigure Main Street in downtown Kalispell.

The vote followed a multi-hour staff presentation, questions from council members and more than a dozen public comments both supporting and opposing the project. Councilor Hunter moved the resolution; Councilor Gabriel seconded. The final roll call was Carlson, Gabriel, Dahlmann and Hunter in favor; Graham, Dowd, Fisher, Nunnally and Mayor Johnson opposed.

City staff and consultants framed the proposal as the next step of a planning process that began with the city’s downtown plan and a federally funded Safe Streets planning grant. Jared Nygren, director of development services, told the council the grant application would have funded implementation work for a concept that would convert the existing four‑lane section of U.S. 93/Main Street through downtown to a three‑lane configuration (one travel lane each direction plus a center turn lane) with pedestrian and intersection safety treatments. Nygren summarized staff findings, saying Main Street accounted for a “significant share” of serious crashes in the planning area and that roadway reconfiguration and other treatments included in the concept tend to reduce crash risk. He told council, “This is federally designated monies specifically for safety projects, for projects similar to this.”

Why it mattered

The proposal was presented as a safety and downtown‑revitalization measure. Staff cited 258 crashes on Main Street, including eight serious‑injury crashes, during a five‑year period used in the safety analysis. Design proponents argued a three‑lane configuration…