Friday, July 18, 2025
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City available to answer questions on road projects

by CHRIS PETERSON
Editor | June 18, 2025 6:55 AM

City Manager Eric Hanks said his door is open for anyone with questions about some big streets projects that are coming up in the next few months in Columbia Falls.

The Gateway to Glacier Safety and Mobility Improvement Project will utilize a $10 million federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant fund awarded to the city of Columbia Falls in 2022.

The city matched the grant with about $500,000 in its own funds.

The project consists of reconstructing 1.3 miles of roadway, installing 1.7 miles of sidewalks, and adding 1 mile of multi-use pathways along Fourth Avenue West, 13th Street West and Seventh Street West. Multiple intersections will be improved, as well as parking improvements and Americans with Disabilities Act  accessibility in the downtown area. The project also includes installing a new water main under the roadway to improve efficiency and reduce water loss.

Construction is expected to start in October of 2025 and be completed by October 2027.

The work is badly needed, particularly on 13th Street West, where the pavement continually breaks up around the high school.

Many homeowners have been contacted already by city staff and planners working on the project and a public open house was held in February. Another one is scheduled for September as plans are finalized and the project goes out to bid.

It’s expected that work will go through the winter, Hanks and public works director Shawn Bates said.

The project dovetails into the city’s 2021 transportation plan.

The Gateway project has already found some interesting issues with right-of-way. One building, for example, is on the city’s right of way, as are a few fences, and several trees. The city plans on replacing fencing, irrigation and doing basic landscaping on affected properties, Hanks said.

In addition to the Gateway project, the city will embark on Phase II of a curb and gutter streets project on streets that serve Nucleus Avenue. That project will look to fix some drainages issues at one residence created by the first project, where during big rain events it floods the resident’s yard.

It will also add new curb and gutter to several streets. 

But like the Gateway project, some trees will be removed and fences and other amenities residents may have had for years will also have to be moved.

One project that won’t get done this year is a sidewalk/shared use path on Railroad Street and the north end of Fourth Avenue.

That project has been in the works for years, but there’s still some right of way issues that need to be ironed out, as it impacts a state highway (the North Fork Road).

As such, it’s not expected to go out to bid until next spring.

To contact Hanks, email: citymanager@cityofcolumbiafalls.com or call (406) 892-4391.