City examines options for Central road slump

Whitefish is in the early planning phase of seeking a solution for the south end of Central Avenue roadway that for decades has been slumping.

The city has for years been monitoring the south end of Central Avenue where it curves turning into Sixth Street. Though it has been repaired in the past, the street continues to slump toward the Whitefish River in that area.

Public Works Director Craig Workman said a geotechnical report suggested that the city abandon that section of the roadway about five years ago.

“The problem with a do-nothing option is that the current situation is unsafe,” he said. “We need to do something. We’re looking at the most cost-effective solutions based upon the number of vehicle trips there.”

Roughly 15 years ago, Workman noted, the whole area with the slump was excavated and replaced with new fill under the roadway.

“It still continues to fall,” he said.

The city is considering two very preliminary design concepts for the section of road. One would create a one-way narrow road between Sixth Street and Central for north-bound traffic. The second concept would close the section of the roadway completely, making the area greenspace with a bike path.

The city last week held a meeting to introduce the concepts to neighbors and gather input.

Workman cautioned that both concepts are preliminary and several details such as engineering standards, fire access, property owner egress and ingress and others still need to be flushed out. Another neighborhood meeting is expected in mid-winter with more complete designs before the item would head to City Council for a vote.

“The main object right now is to get input from the people that live and work in this area,” Workman said.

“This [preliminary concept] doesn’t meet our standards,” he added. “We still have work to do to refine the design.”

The city has retained WGM Group for design of the project. Jon Gass, with WGM Group, reviewed the two options.

Under concept No. 1, a narrow road would run between Sixth Street and Central Avenue to reduce the impact on bank stability. The road would be one-way heading north to Central Avenue so vehicles could drive toward downtown without making a left turn onto Spokane Avenue. A sidewalk connection would run from Spokane Avenue to Central Avenue, and landscaping would be improved in the area where there would no longer be roadway.

“The worst area is the outside edge of the road now toward the river,” he said. “By having the narrow road it would keep the road farther away from the part with the worst settlement issues.”

For the second concept, the design calls for a dead end on the south end of Central Avenue and a dead for Sixth Street, essentially turning the area that is now the curved section of the road into greenspace and reducing the impact on stability of the bank. A sidewalk or path would still be constructed to connect from Spokane Avenue to Central Avenue.

“By placing dead end roads there it lets the area do what it does,” Gass said.

Based upon a suggestion from the meeting, the city also plans to explore making improvements to the alley that runs from Fifth Street to East Sixth Street to accommodate traffic if the slump area were to abandoned.

No cost estimate has been determined for the Central Avenue project. However, there is $400,000 budgeted for the item in the city’s fiscal year 2019 budget. Project costs would be split evenly between the tax increment finance fund and the street fund.

The city hopes to begin construction of the project in summer 2019.