19 September 2016

A dangerous bridge and dangerous intersection in Kalispell

Bridge. Avoid Two Mile Drive until the over the bypass bridge is opened — and then make sure your health and collision insurance are up to date if you’re condemned to drive that road.

Right now, avoid the detour around the bridge if possible. It’s torn-up, narrow, bumpy, and there are delays and pilot cars. Don’t even think about walking through it.

The Two Mile Drive bridge. This photograph was made yesterday from the Three Mile Drive bridge, half a mile to the north (I know, I know).

As displayed in the photographs below, the approaches to the bridge are steep. They will be slippery in winter, and there will be accidents. The streetlights along the bypass will be a further annoyance. They need cutoff shields to protect drivers on Two Mile from the glare.

The rise of the Two Mile bridge. I made the photograph from the intersection of Westview and Two Mile, approximately a quarter mile to the west. A comparison of the vehicles to the bridge suggests a rise of 15 feet, perhaps more.

A tighter crop of the image above. The woman walking across the bridge is trespassing, but she's making the smart safety decision. There will be sidewalks over the bridge. I hope they'll be cleared of snow during winter.

The bridge is better than the original plan to put stop signs on Two Mile Drive and test the courage of drivers attempting to cross the bypass. But a better, if more expensive, solution would have been tunneling under Two Mile, and keeping Two Mile’s crossing of the bypass flat.

Intersection. West of Kalispell, Highway 2 intersects with Dern Road (south) and Springcreek Drive (north). It’s one of the most dangerous intersections in the Flathead because it’s on a curve and between two upgrades. The Montana Highway Department wants feedback on two options for making the intersection safer: (1) rebuilding the intersection, presumably with turning lanes and, I hope, a stoplight, or (2) inflicting a roundabout on traffic. The Flathead Beacon has the details.

My experience is that roundabouts work well in slow urban traffic, especially in residential areas, but are abominationa on high speed roads.

Rebuilding this intersection should have had infinitely higher priority than building that boondoggle bypass.