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KALISPELL 48°F 8°C SCATTERED CLOUDS RELATED STORIES: News & Features Kalispell Rail Trail Design to Begin in Earnest This Spring Alta Planning officials say they are excited to meet with stakeholders BY JUSTIN FRANZ APR 10, 2018 After years of preparation and planning, the work of designing a new rail trail through downtown Kalispell is slated to begin this spring. Earlier this month, the Kalispell City Council selected Alta Planning and Design and KLJ Engineers to design and BEACON FILE PHOTO I BUY Kalispell Selects Design Team for New Rail Trail • Economic Development Authority Inks Deal with CHS to Move to Rail Park • City Begins Search for Company to Design New Rail Trail • The 2018 Music Issue VIEW STORIES POND SKIM PHOTO GALLERY EDITOR'S PICK MORE SHOW CAPTION ---PAGE BREAK--- construct a new rail trail that will replace the former Great Northern Railway tracks through town. The trail will stretch from Woodland Park west to Meridian Road along the former Great Northern Railway rightofway. The owner of the tracks, BNSF Railway, has filed to abandon the rails through town, and trains will stop running into Kalispell once the new Glacier Rail Park is completed east of town off Whitefish Stage Road. Joe Gilpin, a principal with Alta based in Bozeman, said his company is looking forward to working with the city and stakeholders along the proposed trail. Gilpin said Alta has more than 30 offices across the country and has done numerous rail trail projects across the country. “We’re really excited about this project, and we think it’s going to be a fun one,” he said. Gilpin said the design team hopes to meet with residents and businesses in early summer to gather input. He said he thinks the trail should be both useful and educational, building on the history of the town and the railroad itself that was built in 1892. Removal of the old railroad, engineering and construction of the new trail and the rebuilding of a number of cross streets through the core area is expected to cost approximately $4 million. Embed View on Twitter Flathead Beacon staff A Twitter list by @FlatheadBeacon Follow our journalists for breaking news & other reports Kellyn Brown Retweeted Nearly 10,000 jobs are at risk of disappearing in rural Montana over the next five years because small business owners are nearing retirement and there’s nobody willing to buy their companies and keep workers employed bit.ly/2v7uhWo David Erickson @David__Erickson 10,000 jobs could disappear in rural … ---PAGE BREAK--- NEWS & FEATURES SPORTS OUTDOORS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT OPINION PHOTOS EVENTS ABOUT US MARKETPLACE Advertise Subscribe Advertiser Tear Sheets Email & RSS Feeds Contact Us © 2018 Flathead Beacon, All Rights Reserved. Use of this site is subject to the Flathead Beacon's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Flathead Beacon MORE FROM THE BEACON 3 Comments Sort by Petek ꞏ Figments and Fragments at See Write Keeping the downtown vital is important and this is definitely a step in the right direction. Like ꞏ Reply ꞏ 8h David ꞏ University of Montana Very cool! This will be a fantastic addition to Kalispell and provide safe access to downtown businesses. Can't wait! Like ꞏ Reply ꞏ 3 ꞏ 19h ꞏ Edited Carla Ramo ꞏ Top Add a comment... Evergreen Fire Levy Fails on Ballot Changing Health Care Landscape Forces ‘Realignment’ at Kalispell Hospital Whitefish Mountain Resort Closes Out Another Banner Year 17 Main Street • Kalispell • Montana • 59901 • USA • (406) 2579220 •