By Michael Howell
Bitterrooters for Planning (BfP) held a public meeting to discuss the highway improvement project planned for the Eastside Highway from Eight Mile Road to Stevensville last week. The meeting was held at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge and included a panel consisting of Tom Reed, Refuge Manager, Don Burgess, Florence resident and editor of Bugle Magazine, Jean Belangie-Nye, ten-year veteran of the Citizens Advisory Council for Highway 93 South, and Joan Prather, Executive Director of the Stevensville Main Street Association, all of whom gave introductory remarks.
Skip Kowalski, BfP President, told the roomful of people that his organization was concerned about the latest proposal put forward by the Montana Department of Transportation, primarily because it lacks a bike/pedestrian path and wildlife crossings. He told the group that MDT was claiming that the cost of the basic road reconstruction alone had already maxed out the funding for the project.
“Citizen feedback is the only way to change anything at this point,” said Kowalski.
Burgess, a member of the Bitterroot Sapphire Corridor Coalition, said that the cost of adding a bike path and wildlife crossings should be weighed against the cost of animal-related collisions and the potential lives that could be saved. He provided information based on an economic analysis done by the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University that demonstrates that the benefits of a crossing structure on US 93 south of Lolo would exceed costs over the estimated 75-year lifespan of even the most expensive type of crossing structure, a wildlife overpass or bridge.
The average cost per collision with an elk is about $17,500. Average cost of collisions with a deer are about $6,600. Based on these average costs per collision it was estimated that along four miles of Highway 93 south of Lolo, over a 10-year period the cost of elk collisions totaled $227,500 and the cost of deer collisions about $1,095,600.
Belangie-Nye said that the number one reason she got so involved in the Highway 93 improvements was the safety issue. But she also noted that 563,372 cyclists contributed about $377 million to the state’s economy last year.
Prather agreed. She noted that the Stevensville Main Street Association raised $60,000 to match a half million dollar grant to make safety improvements to the Eastside Highway as it passes through Stevensville. She said that having a bike route along the Eastside Highway would make a loop with the Highway 93 bike path that would take Missoula bicyclists right through Stevensville.
“What we don’t want,” said Prather, “is to look back with regret when the project is done and realize we made a big mistake in not including a bike path.”
Representative Ed Greef said that the bike/pedestrian path and wildlife crossings were important for addressing safety concerns and boosting the economy.
“We need to do things now,” said Greef, “because it won’t get done later.”
Sue Lyons told the group that there was an important historical aspect to the Eastside Highway that should be acknowledged and preserved as well.
Part of what is now the Eastsid Highway was the main street for the Town of Bitterroot, said Lyons. She said some of the old fire hydrants installed for the town are still there. She also noted that there were a few homes along the road that were built on plans designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Kowalski urged the public to contact MDT while there was still time to change the plans. He said if the public shows a real interest it could make a difference.