Seventh Street residents sound off on rebuild

West Seventh Street residents came out in droves to a recent meeting to chime in on the future landscape of their neighborhood as a massive road reconstruction project looms.

The roadway from Baker Avenue to Karrow Avenue is proposed to be rebuilt with curbs, a sidewalk and streetlights. A bike path is proposed for the north side of the road from Geddes to Karrow. Water, sewer and other utilities will also be upgraded.

It’s the next project on the priority list of street projects to be funded by Whitefish’s 2 percent resort tax.

Final design is slated to wrap up next fall. Utilities are to be replaced in 2015, with road reconstruction taking place in 2016.

The Dec. 10 neighborhood meeting was intended to gather feedback on what residents envision for the reconstruction project.

“We’re here to gather input and to see what’s important to the neighborhood,” said project engineer Ryan Mitchell with Robert Peccia and Associates. “It’s your street — you live there.”

Feedback varied about how the street should be improved, with most of the discussion focused on pedestrian safety, vehicle speeds and retaining the rural character of the area.

Mitchell said the street ultimately could be a combination of urban and rural standards, depending on what the neighborhood prefers.

“The street doesn’t have to be the same from one end to the other,” he told the audience.

“This is going to be a transitional road. It won’t look the same at the far west end as it does on the far east end.”

A recent informal poll of the neighborhood showed that most wanted sidewalks and streetlights.

“We need sidewalks so people can walk and streetlights so I can feel safe,” said neighborhood resident Mary Delap.

Mitchell agreed that sidewalks were imperative. He believes that at least one sidewalk should run the entire length of the road.

“Maybe we have two sidewalks on both sides from Baker Avenue to Scott, then transition to one,” he suggested.

The project includes a 30 foot easement on both sides of the road for the sidewalks and bike path.

City public works director John Wilson said the bike path would be built, but where it starts and stops hasn’t been decided.

The wonky intersection at O’Brien Avenue drew numerous comments. Currently, the intersection includes a three-way stop before the road makes a slight shift.

Residents noted that commuters often don’t stop and that the sight lines are poor leading up to the intersection.

Eric and Lynn Scheele own the property in front of the intersection. They said the stop signs have only created more problems since they were installed.

“Only one out of 20 vehicles stop at the westbound sign,” they noted in a letter to the engineers.

They said most drivers view the sign as a yield sign, while others slow then “gun” the engine forward.

“One of our biggest challenges is how do we improve this intersection,” Mitchell told the audience.

Richard Hildner suggested a roundabout instead of stop signs, which drew moans of disapproval from the audience.

The urban connector street averages about 1,200 vehicle trips per day, according to a 2009 study. That number was likely higher the past few years, Mitchell said, due to the ongoing Highway 93 West road work.

Brian Schott said engineers should also consider how to slow down traffic on the stretch of road when designing the project.

“Creative consideration should be given to traffic calming measures,” Schott said.

Wilson noted that speed bumps can’t be used due to emergency vehicle standards.

Whether power lines will be buried also was a major talking point.

Last year, Mayor John Muhlfeld broke a 3-3 split vote in favor of burying power lines for the recently finished East Second Street reconstruction project. Former councilor Bill Kahle said at the time he hoped the decision would set a precedent for future resort tax road projects, such as Seventh Street.

However, Wilson said Flathead Electric Co-op had expressed some concerns about burying the Seventh Street power lines and that no decision had been made.

“Underground power is up for discussion,” Wilson said.

Schott said it would be a missed opportunity to leave the lines overhead.

“We don’t get too many opportunities to get those ugly lines underground,” he said.

The city does hope to get new sewer and water lines to all residents on the corridor.