U.S. Highway 93 Alternate (US 93 Alt. or Alt 93) in the U.S. state of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
is an
alternate route
An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state a ...
of
US 93 that bypasses the central business district of the city of
Kalispell.
Route description
US 93 Alt. begins at US 93 south of Kalispell approximately south of the "Four Corners" junction with
Secondary Highway 317 (S-317), and currently runs as a temporary two-lane highway for nearly to
US 2 west of Kalispell, and as a four-lane highway from there for nearly to its northern terminus at US 93 north of Kalispell.
The completed circuit opened to traffic on October 28, 2016. Future construction includes completing the permanent four-lane highway from US 2 south to US 93 with grade-separated interchanges at both
S-503 intersections (Airport Road and Foys Lake Road/Meridian Road) when funding permits.
The next phase of construction is planned to begin in summer 2019, following receipt of a $12.75 million federal BUILD grant for the segment from the Ashley Creek bridge to just north of Airport Road, for expanding the highway to four lanes and building the first of the two planned interchanges (Foys Lake/Meridian), with design work and right-of-way acquisition for the remaining segment beginning in January 2019.
History
The idea for a bypass to relieve congestion in downtown Kalispell had been discussed since the 1940s, with the first formal request submitted to the then-Montana Highway Department in 1953.
Most proposals centered on a western route on or near the former
BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
railroad route between Somers and Kalispell, especially when relocation and environmental concerns eliminated expansion of S-317 southeast of Kalispell for that purpose.
The idea finally came to fruition in 1994 with the approval of the region's federal environmental impact statement for upcoming highway construction projects. The statement formally established the route of the proposed Kalispell bypass slightly west of the original railroad route, with a bridge over that route to link it to US 93. Corridor design began in 1995, with
Montana Department of Transportation
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Montana, responsible for numerous programs related to the construction, maintenance, and monitoring of Montana's transportation infrastructure and operati ...
(MDT) and
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...
(FHWA)
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
corridor approval in 1997.
In 2004, MDT reevaluated the Kalispell bypass portion of the study, began the bypass design and conducted the first community meeting to give an overview of the project. Design work and right-of-way acquisition continued, and in 2008 the project design was changed to staged construction, to construct as funding allowed. The segments from US 2 south to US 93 and Reserve Loop (since renamed Old Reserve Drive) to US 93 were chosen as the first to be constructed.
The first segment from US 2 south to the Foys Lake Road/Meridian Road roundabout was completed and opened in fall 2010,
and the segment from there to the Airport Road roundabout and US 93 was completed and opened in November 2012.
The segment from Old Reserve Drive to US 93 was completed and opened in November 2013, and culvert and overpass work for the future S-424 interchange were completed in 2014.
2015-2016 construction of the northwest segment from US 2 north to Old Reserve (S-548) included grade-separated interchanges at US 2, Three Mile Drive (
S-424), Four Mile Drive and S-548, and an overpass for Two Mile Drive.
This round of construction also expanded the first 2010 segment (Foys Lake Road/Meridian Road to US 2) to four lanes.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
93 Alternate (Kalispell)
93 Alternate (Kalispell, Montana)
Alternate (Kalispell, Montana)
Transportation in Flathead County, Montana
Kalispell, Montana