Transportation projects on tap for the Flathead in 2025

Several transportation projects are in motion across the Flathead, with more progress planned in 2025. Glacier Park International Airport is moving full steam ahead with the next phase of its expansion project and West Reserve Drive in Kalispell is being rebuilt with additional traffic lanes.  

The state Department of Transportation is in for a busy year. Partnering with the city of Kalispell, the state agency is widening West Reserve Drive between Hutton Ranch Road and Whitefish Stage.  The city hired Columbia Falls-based contractor Schellinger Construction to lead the project.  

Improvements include expanding the major collector from three to five lanes by including a center turn lane. Sidewalks will also be built on the Stillwater River bridge as well as a shared-use path. Dedicated turn lanes, signals and concrete surfacing will also be installed at the intersections of Hutton Rand Road and Whitefish Stage Road.  

The road should be open and operational by the end of 2025, said John Schmidt, the transportation department’s Missoula District construction engineer. 

The expansion project, aimed at curbing increased traffic along the thoroughfare, began in October. 

In 2023, the city received a $25 million grant for the rebuild effort through the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. About $1.44 million from the state’s SAFER Fund went toward the project as well.

TWO BRIDGES will be getting some much-needed attention this upcoming year.  

The replacement of Sportsman’s Bridge on Montana 82 in Bigfork is expected to begin in early fall. The narrow bridge built in 1955 was not designed to hold the heavy traffic that came with the county’s boom in population, according to state transportation department. 

The new bridge will be built on the south side of the existing one and will feature two 12-foot travel lanes and two 10-foot shoulders. 

The almost $48 million project is being majority funded through the Bridge Investment Program, a federal program aimed at addressing bridges in poor condition, according to the state’s consultant project engineer Mark Studt. 

Another project the state has in the works is replacing the Bridge Street Bridge in Bigfork.  

“We’re going to be busy in the valley next year for sure,” said Schmidt, the engineer with the state transportation department.  

Most of the projects are being primarily funded through federal grant programs. 

LOOKING TO THE SKIES, Glacier Park International Airport has been undergoing a historic terminal expansion project as the Flathead Valley population grows, and the tourist hotspot gets hotter. The project is expected to be completed in May 2026.  

The airport completed part of the project’s first phase in March, which featured the county’s first pair of escalators. The moving stairs take travelers from security up to the three new boarding gates each adorned with jet bridges. 

Travellers have also been able to cozy up to the fireplace or get a drink and some grub at the Goat Haunt Saloon. The Flathead Mercantile shop and the On The Fly concession stand opened this year, as well.  

Through the rest of 2024, the terminal has been getting a face-lift at the front of the building. By late spring and early summer, airport director Rob Ratkowski expects renovations to the ticketing lobby and baggage claim to be completed.  

The airport’s central core remains under construction and will eventually connect all facets of the facility, from baggage claim to ticketing.  

“The true flow of the building will be back,” Ratkowski said.  

Phase two of the project also kicked off in 2024, which will see renovations to the south end of the building including an additional gate and baggage claim, which will not be open until 2026, Ratkowski said.  

So far, well over half of the project has been completed. Ratkowski expects the entire feat to cost around $168 million, which translates to about a $5 increase per ticket, he said. 

To mitigate the financial impact on passengers, the airport has accessed various streams of federal infrastructure funding mechanisms and through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration.  

In 2023, the airport welcomed 455,000 passengers. From the beginning of this year through November, the airport saw 471,000 passengers.