Downtown parking lot reclaimed by BNSF

The recent elimination of some parking

spaces near the O’Shaughnessy Center could be the impetus for an

elevated parking deck that connects near the Baker Avenue

viaduct.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad

company last month told the city they were reclaiming 31 parking

spaces in a lot on their property near the performance hall. Due to

hiring more employees, they needed more parking. The 14 spaces and

two handicapped spaces closest to the O’Shaughnessy are on

city-owned property and will remain open to the public.

To mitigate the loss of parking, BNSF

has opened the lot north of the Community Library to public

parking. The new lot adds 58 spaces for public use to offset the 31

lost, but those spaces are further from downtown and the

performance center. Burlington Northern, however, said there may be

a need to take back that lot if train traffic increases in the

future.

The lot west of the depot has also been

changed to a 30-minute drop off for Amtrak customers and for BNSF

overflow parking.

Curbs and paving will be installed this

month and enforcement is already in effect. On Nov. 12, a towing

company was called to remove 18 vehicles from the BNSF parking

lot.

Some disappointment with the parking

changes was expressed by attendees of a meeting on Oct. 26.

Attending were two local BNSF officials, Carolyn Pittman of the

O’Shaughnessy Center, Kevin Gartland of the Whitefish Chamber of

Commerce, Rhonda Fitzgerald of the Heart of Whitefish, Rick

Cunningham of the SNOW bus, and Bruce Boody and Jena Ponti from the

Depot Park Master Plan Committee, among others.

The loss of parking, some noted, could

impact events in Depot Park and at the O’Shaughnessy.

City Manager Chuck Stearns proposed at

the meeting, and at an earlier Oct. 19 meeting, the idea of leasing

out the “air rights” above BNSF’s parking area with the intention

of building a second-story parking deck that could be entered from

Baker Avenue in the viaduct area. The project would be paid for

with funds from the tax increment finance district.

“This parking deck could be fairly

inexpensive structured parking as it may be able to be done without

a ramp,” Stearns noted in his Nov. 2 manager report. “It would also

provide covered parking for BNSF’s lot below it and save them from

plowing their lot.”

He said the elevated deck could be a

long-term solution to downtown parking concerns.

There would be some logistical concerns

with the structure. Drivers exiting the parking deck would be

required to go northbound over the viaduct, instead of toward

downtown. There would also need to be a covered pedestrian stairway

down to Central Avenue.

Stearns said there was a positive

reception to this idea from both BNSF officials and the public.

Burlington Northern representatives liked the fact they wouldn’t

have to plow the lot in the winter.

The potential project is only in a

concept phase, Stearns noted, and nothing has been officially

planned. A city council work session to discuss the idea is

tentatively planned for Dec. 5.