Bike, pedestrian plan looks to improve trail systems

Greater connectivity and safety improvements for the city’s trails and sidewalks is the focus of a draft bike and pedestrian master plan released last month.

The vision statement for the Connect Whitefish Plan says Whitefish, “Will have a connected and continuous network of well-maintained bicycle and pedestrian facilities. These facilities will link key destinations inside and outside of town and will be safe, convenient and comfortable for both recreation and active transportation.”

WGM Group, the consultant hired to complete the plan, released the draft document ahead of a Sept. 7 community meeting at City Hall to discuss the plan.

Once completed, the document will help guide city decision-makers in creating and maintaining bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure over the next 20 years.

The plan looks at the current state of bicycle and pedestrian options, uses input from the community to choose priorities and then offers suggestions on how to achieve selected goals. Whitefish’s pedestrian and bicycle network includes about 41 miles of sidewalk, 13 miles of shared use paths and two miles of bike lanes on city streets.

During outreach and engagement sessions key themes emerged of connectivity, comfort and maintenance. Connecting existing facilities is a major component of the plan.

“The community overwhelming envisioned a future where residents and visitors can bicycle, walk or jog to downtown, schools, parks and trails ... without awkwardly hopping back and forth between paths and sidewalks, city streets and highways,” the plan states.

Another theme that emerged during outreach was a desire for improving safety, along with adding more wayfinding signs.

The final goal is maintenance. Poorly maintained facilities, the plan states, create gaps in the system and unsafe conditions.

It’s being recommended to prioritize as the city’s project the completion of the Whitefish River Trail as a 10-foot-wide shared-use path with lighting and wayfinding signage from the Skye Park footbridge to JP Road. It also seeks to prioritize connections between the river trail and existing routes that provide safe access to downtown, schools and parks.

The connectivity category includes 57 recommended projects suggested to take place from within the next five years to the next 20 years. The top seven projects on the list involve improvements to the Whitefish River Trail. The top project is listed as extending the shared use path along the river between Second Street and Railway Street, connecting the trail from Kay Beller Park to the BNSF loop.

There are 28 recommended projects under the safety category. Some safety concerns come from a lack of standardized design guidelines, the plan states, such as narrow bike lanes, unsafe path crossings and dysfunctional bike racks. The plan recommends adopting guidelines to improve safety, along with developing a plan for uncontrolled intersections.

The city lacks consistent and coordinated wayfinding signs to comfortably guide locals and visitors, the plan states. It recommends creating a committee that would develop a sign design plan.

On maintenance, the plan recommends the city budget a minimum of $2,000 per mile for short-term operations and maintenance of asphalt paths and develop a long-term maintenance schedule for asphalt paths and provide annual funding of about $3,700 per mile to meet the minimum requirements for preservation of existing facilities.

While Whitefish has a solid foundation of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, it is lacking in focused programming, the document notes. There is a suggested number of potential programming options that could promote trails, help maintain trails and help alleviate safety concerns through education.

Estimated costs for projects in the plan range from about $3,000 for repairs or improving intersections, to up to more than $1 million for projects that call for constructing new trails.

Funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects will become increasingly more difficult in the future. The plan notes that federal earmarks for paths is unlikely, state Community Transportation Enhancement Program grants no longer exist, and sunset of the city’s tax increment finance district in 2020 will make funding a challenge. It suggests creating a new TIF district for urban renewal based on the benefits of a connected river trail. In also suggests creating public/private partnerships to help fund large projects.

The city adopted its current bicycle and pedestrian master plan in 1998 and adopted amendments to the plan in 2003 and 2007.

A short presentation and public comments on the new draft plan will be taken at a community meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at interim City Hall. For more information or to view the plan, visit www.cityofwhitefish.org/public-works/projects.php