Kalispell has missed out on a grant that would have accelerated construction of the south end of the U.S. 93 Bypass, meaning the highway will remain unfinished and unfunded indefinitely.

Partnering with the Montana Department of Transportation, Kalispell sought $25 million from the federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development competitive grant program, the maximum amount that can be requested.  

At the time, the entire project was estimated at around $36.7 million, and the leftover cost would have been paid by the state Department of Transportation.  

The city applied for the grant over the winter and found out in July that it was not awarded, according to Development Services Director and interim City Manager Jarod Nygren.  

Nygren blamed the failure on a competitive applicant pool coupled with the drying up of federal dollars over the years.  

If the program comes back around next year, Nygren plans to reapply. But the turbulence federal funding programs are experiencing under the Trump administration leaves things uncertain.  

“The federal grant programs have been all over the place,” he said.  

FUTURE CONSTRUCTION at the south end of the bypass is divided into two planned projects.  

One project would replace the roundabout at Airport Road with a double-roundabout interchange similar to the one completed at Foys Lake Road in 2022. The interchange would also feature an overpass and four access ramps, according to the state Department of Transportation.  

The other would reconfigure the Basecamp Drive/bypass intersection to U.S. 93, which would include dual northbound left-turn lanes on the highway, doubling turning capacity for vehicles hopping on the bypass.  

The grant would have funded both projects and gotten the ball rolling on roadwork.  

“The grants allow us to move up some of the projects that are just too big to fund,” said Joel Boucher, the Montana Department of Transportation’s preconstruction manager for Missoula District. 

If a grant isn't secured, construction would have to be funded through the state Department of Transportation. But the department doesn’t have the finances to fund both projects at once like the grant could, which means progress will get kicked further down the road.  

“It takes too much of [the Montana Department of Transportation’s] budget to deliver it as one project,” Boucher said.  

Construction costs continue to rise too. Boucher estimated the price tag to be nearly $40 million now, taking into account future inflation.   

Every year, the department forms a plan identifying which projects it will fund over the next five years. The bypass is off the list right now, Boucher said. But he expects it to be included in that plan in a little more than five years. 

This is not Kalispell's first attempt to nab funding through the grant program. The city applied for $25 million in 2024 when the program was named Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity under the Biden administration.  

The Foys Lake Road section of the bypass received $12.75 million from the program in 2018. 

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at [email protected].