By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
The City of Glendive looks ready to forge ahead with a proposal from the Montana Department of Transportation to reconfigure Merrill Avenue from a four-lane to a three-lane road.
The city Streets Committee made the recommendation on Wednesday that the full council vote to approve the proposal at their Sept. 20 meeting.
Committee chairman Councilman Gerald Reichert said that after reading through the MDT study on Merrill, he came to the conclusion that reconfiguring the street to three lanes “seemed to be the best alternative to me.” Reichert added that during a recent trip to Bismarck, N.D., he noticed one of the main thoroughfares in the city’s downtown had been changed from a four-lane to a three-lane street. Reichert said the very busy street appeared to move traffic just as effectively as it had in the past, adding “what struck me immediately was how open that street was.”
Glendive Chamber of Commerce executive director Christine Whitlatch voiced her support for changing Merrill’s layout, suggesting it would serve to benefit downtown businesses by providing a more open, inviting retail environment for shoppers.
“I think the three-lane, from a retail perspective, would be a plus,” Whitlatch said.
Dawson County Health Department nurse Jen Fladager, representing Building Active Glendive and the Dawson County Healthy Communities Coalition, espoused her opinion that reconfiguring Merrill could lead to “greater utilization” of the Merrill corridor by pedestrians and cyclists, leading to a higher number of locals getting good exercise. From a public health perspective, Fladager said changing the street “would be a great boon to the community.”
Kevin Myhre, a former city manager and chief of police from Lewistown, offered his opinion to the committee as well, noting that the main road through Lewistown had once been four lanes but had been reduced to three and that the community as a whole has welcomed the change.
“We’ve always been very happy with it in Lewistown,” Myhre said. “It’s amazing how much traffic it really moves.”
Glendive Mayor Jerry Jimison agreed.
“I’ve read through it and I agree with MDT’s recommendations, and I believe this is the first step towards making downtown Glendive safer ... And I see no way, shape or form where it’s going to hinder traffic,” Jimison said.
Reichert raised the point of an informal poll recently run on a local social media page which was overwhelmingly against changing Merrill. However, committee members concluded that the poll was in no way scientific and that it is primarily a lack of education about what the reconfiguration would really do driving any opposition to it.
No one spoke against the plan during Wednesday’s meeting.
Councilwoman Avis Anderson said the biggest hurdle the city will have to clear is educating the general public about the facts and benefits regarding changing Merrill from a four-lane to a three-lane road.
“I really think you’re going to have to do a good job educating people,” Anderson said. “I think you’re going to need ... to have some stuff to prepare people for this.”
If the full council approves the proposal this Tuesday night, Jimison said MDT will immediately get the project “into the hopper, which will make this happen in five years.”
The city accepted a MDT proposal last year to reconfigure Towne Street to a three-lane road from the bridge to its intersection with Merrill, with an estimated start date of 2018 for that project.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.