May 18, 2017 | Daily Inter Lake

BNSF Railway Co. has filed paperwork with the federal Surface Transportation Board to abandon 2.7 miles of rail line through Kalispell.
The filing is an integral step in the city of Kalispell’s Core Area Redevelopment Plan that calls for a trail system to be built on the rail bed through the heart of Kalispell.

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UPDATED 5-18-17
The City of Kalispell is proposing the Glacier Rail Park and Kalispell Trail Project. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is providing partial funding for construction of the Project through a grant under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and FRA’s NEPA procedures, the City and FRA have prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential impacts of the Project on the human and natural environment.

The EA is being made available for a 30-day public review and comment period that will begin May 19, 2017, and end June 17, 2017. The EA will be available online on the City’s website at http://www.kalispell.com/community_economic_development and FRA’s website at https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0214. The EA will also be available for viewing in hardcopy at Kalispell City Hall, 201 First Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana 59901 or ImagineIF Libraries Kalispell, 247 First Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana 59901.

Interested persons may submit written comments on this EA to the City of Kalispell via U.S. Mail to Katharine Thompson, City of Kalispell Community and Economic Development Department, Post Office Box 1997, Kalispell, Montana 59903 or via e-mail to kthompson@kalispell.com. Please call (406) 758-7713 for information or assistance.

This comment period is also intended to satisfy the public involvement requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act. These two laws afford protection to resources such as historic properties, parks, and recreational areas.

FRA and the City will consider comments received during the public comment period before FRA makes a final NEPA decision and Section 4(f) determination.

Legal Publication Dates: Sunday, May 14, 2017 and updated legal on Friday, May 19, 2017 in the Daily Inter Lake

May 10, 2017| Daily Inter Lake

The City of Kalispell opened bidding May 8 for the construction of the new Glacier Rail Park.
The park will be a 41-acre, rail-served industrial facility built to serve the northwest Montana region. The park will create 20 business lots on the east side of Whitefish Stage Road, north of East Oregon Street and west of East Oregon Lane.
Rail-reliant businesses currently located in the downtown Kalispell area will be relocated to the park upon its completion to make way for the redevelopment of the CORE Area and the removal of the tracks from downtown.

View the full article here.