Curb safety sparks debate

It seems that nothing riles debate in

Whitefish more than sidewalks and curbs. Last week’s Whitefish City

Council meeting followed suit.

Going against firm federal

recommendations, street-level crosswalk ramps will be installed

when the busy Baker Avenue and U.S. 93. intersection is

reconstructed this fall. The depressed ramps will be similar to

those currently at the Central Avenue and Third Street

intersection.

The decision to opt for the lower ramps

proved difficult for the council to finalize at the April 18

meeting because of possible safety issues with the design.

The Federal Highway Administration

(FHA) recommends traditional perpendicular curbs that it maintains

are better designed to keep trucks from clipping corners and

running over sidewalks.

The Heart of Whitefish downtown group

pushed for the street-level, or depressed curbs to provide

continuity with other intersections being rebuilt downtown.

Whitefish is using a $3.5 million TIGER grant to pay for the

highway rebuild that is expected to begin in mid-September.

Project engineer Jeremy Keene noted one

safety concern is that depressed corners don’t provide physical

separation between the street and sidewalk.

“It doesn’t give a real solid visual

cue you are leaving the sidewalk,” Keene told the councilors,

although he later said he was in favor of the street-level ramps.

“This is an area where you want to give the pedestrian the

priority. I wouldn’t have a problem going forward with lay-down

curbs. It’s appropriate for where we are working.”

The design implements mitigation

tactics such as detectable warning plates, and contrasting colors

in the crosswalks, Keene said. He suggested the council consider

bollards as a deterrent, which councilors Turner Askew and Phil

Mitchell, and Mayor Mike Jenson were against.

“A bollard is just a target,” Askew

said.

Councilor Chris Hyatt noted that his

3-1/2 year old child stepped into the street at the new

street-level intersection at Central Avenue and Third Street, not

recognizing where the sidewalk ended and the street began.

“In my opinion, there is a safety

issue,” Hyatt said.

Askew agreed, saying “It’s preposterous

to think trucks aren’t going to be up on that sloped ramp. I don’t

want my granddaughter standing there.”

Askew was also in favor of traditional

ramps because they are the preferred choice of the Americans with

Disability Act. He said a wheelchair might start leaning if it

isn’t guided directly down the street-level ramp.

Councilor John Muhlfeld acknowledged

the safety concerns but said he was OK with the street-level ramps

as long as the project engineer was OK with them.

Muhlfeld said it was important to

remember the Downtown Master Plan’s strategy for expanding retail

when deciding on the ramps. He was in favor of keeping the

intersections consistent throughout downtown to encourage people to

continue shopping, especially in the Railway District.

“Having continuity between the

intersections provides that economic benefit,” Muhlfeld said.

“Previous blocks that were rather uninviting to pedestrians have

now turned into attractants or magnets for people to turn that

corner and continue walking.”

Hyatt and Jenson said they were in

favor of continuity.

“The consistency is something I think

is pretty important for most users,” Jenson said.

The vote favoring the street-level

ramps passed 3-1, with Askew in opposition. Council members Ryan

Friel and Bill Kahle were absent.