HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY PUBLIC FACILITIES PART 1: EXISTING CONDITIONS 1. Street Network A. City Roads The Public Works Department maintains streets within the city limits. The City maintains a total of 27.77 miles of streets and 8.503 miles of alleys within the city limits. The streets are generally paved and the alleys mostly have a gravel surface. The street maintenance budget is primarily from the fuel tax funds with some mainte- nance funds coming from the general fund. There are also street maintenance districts for 10 miles of streets and 10 miles of sidewalks. B. County Roads Roads in the three-mile planning area that are not part of the State primary or secondary highway system are maintained by the County. C. State & Federal Highways The State and Federal Highway system is comprised of the National Highway System, Primary Highway System and the Secondary Highway system. Federal funding for the U.S. and State Highways come from the National Highway System Program and the Surface Transportation Program. There are no Interstate highways in Ravalli County. U.S. Highway 93 runs north-south through the City of Hamilton and is the major route in the county from the State Line to Missoula. Secondary State highways include MT Highway 269, located east of the City and known as the East Side Highway and MT Highway 531 (Main St.), an east to west highway extending west over the Bitterroot River. According to the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) data for each of the Hamilton segments, all of the State Highways have experienced increased traffic volumes over the last three years. Table 1: ADT for Segments in and Around Hamilton 2007 ADT 2005 ADT Segment US 93 (Junction—Skalkaho Pass Rd) 9,725 9,630 US 93 (Skalkaho Rd— South City Limits) 15,146 14,661 US 93 (South City Limits to Main St.) 18,1888 15,416 US 93 (Main St. to North City Limits) 14,098 11,864 Hwy 269 (East Side Highway in Hamilton) 6200 5040 Hwy 531 (Main St) 4960 5495 Source: Montana Department of Transportation, Rail Transit & Planning Division Public Facilities—1 HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY Map 1: Hamilton Street Network Public Facilities—2 HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY 2. Functional Street Classifications Roadway facilities are classified by a street functional classification system that specifies the level of mobility roadways must provide to users. The functional classifications are used to establish eligibility for roadway funding projects and to define appropriate street design standards and traffic operating characteristics. The following table contains the street classification system for Hamilton. Table 2: Functional Street Classification for Hamilton Classification Primary Function Definition Principal Arterials: Mobility Inter-community roadways connecting community largest cen- ters of major facilities. Principal arterials are generally in- • US Hwy 93 tended to serve predominantly “through” traffic with very restricted access to abutting properties. Spacing between parallel major arterials is generally two miles or greater. Minor Arterials Mobility/Land Access Intra-community highways connecting community centers and facilities. Minor arterials provide intra-community travel for areas bounded by the principal arterial system. Minor arte- rials serve trips of moderate length and provide partially controlled, infrequent access to abutting properties. Spacing of minor arterials is typically less than two miles. Major Collectors Land Access/Mobility Intra-community highways connecting residential neighbor- hoods with community centers and facilities. The collector • SR 269 (East Side Hwy) roadways also provide access to minor and principal arte- • SR 531 (Main St.) rials. Property access is generally a higher priority for col- lectors, with a lower priority for through traffic movements. Minor Collectors Land Access/Mobility Collectors also provide access to commercial and industrial developments. Spacing of collectors is generally one mile or • Andirondac Ave. less. • Pine Ave • Pickney St • State St. • Marcus St. • Fairgrounds Rd. • Golf Course Rd. • Ravalli St. • 7th St. • 4th St. • Taulman Ave. • Kurtz Lane • Freeze Ln. • Big Corral Rd. • Grantsdale Rd. Local/Residential St. All remaining Streets Primary Function is to access to abutting properties. Local streets include a variety of designs and spacing depending on access needs. Local streets have low traffic volumes and provide internal circulation and access to residential devel- opment boundaries and small community facilities. Source: Hamilton Transportation Plan—2002 Public Facilities—3 HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY 3. Airport A. General Information The Ravalli County Airport serves the City of Hamilton and Ravalli County. It is located approximately one mile east of the city. The airport is a general aviation (non-airline) and is one of the busiest general aviation air- ports in the State. As noted in the following statistics, the airport serves a variety of users. • Elevation—3642 ft. • Airport Services—Main runway and parallel taxiway with connecting taxiways. Asphalt apron. Lighted wind sock and segmented circle and rotating beacon. Fuel, hangars and tiedowns. Lighted runway. • Main Runway Dimensions—4200 x 75 feet • Main Runway Surface—Asphalt/porous friction courses, in fair condition • Aircraft Based on Field—116 (96 Single-Engine, 9 multi-engine, 2 Jet, 1 Helicopter, 8—glider/ultra lights) • Average Aircraft Operations a day—65 (57% local & 35% Transient) • 2007 Annual operations = 29,400 • Airport Users - Business, governmental, recreational, emergency medical, personal. Bitterroot National For- est. (Source: http://www.airnav.com/airports/ & Ravalli County Airport Environmental Assessment) Figure 1: Ravalli County Airport . Public Facilities—4 HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY 3. Airport (cont) B. Noise Abatement Figure 2: Noise Abatement Procedures The County has a recommended noise abate- ment plan to minimize noise impacts. Figure 2 indicates the preferred patterns for depar- tures and take-offs. The County encourages all pilots to use procedures RPM settings and traffic patterns to minimize the effect of noise on neighbors. Due to projected increases in traffic, noise is projected to increase under all alternatives. The majority of critical noise falls within the boundary of the future airport boundary. The environmental assessment recommends that land contiguous to the easterly boundary be planned that will keep homes a reasonable distance from the airport property to minimize noise impacts. C. Future Improvements The airport was initially designed for small aircraft with shorter wingspans than common aircraft today. The runway is located too close to the parallel taxiway and the runway length is too short to accommodate 100% of small general aviation aircraft that currently use the airport. The County has completed a Master Plan that proposes to increase the runway length to 5,200 feet with a 400 feet separation from the parallel taxiway. Additionally the runway would be shifted to the north and there would be a new area for aprons and hangars to avoid encroachment in the transitional surface. Plans also rec- ommend that either there should be the acquisition of 96 acres east of the airport property for compatible non- residential development or this be accomplished through easements or zoning. The plans also call for a business park to be developed adjacent to the park. In November, 2008 an Environmental Assessment was completed for the proposed improvements. As of Janu- ary, 2009 the County was reviewing an environmental assessment and taking public comment on the proposal. Much of the funding for airport improvements will come from FAA. The Ravalli County Airport is on the National Plan of Integrated Airport systems (NPIAS) and the Montana Airport System Plan (MASP). Public Facilities—5 HAMILTON, MT GROWTH POLICY 4. Transit Since 1976, the Ravalli Council on Aging operates an on-demand public transportation service in the county. The BitterRoot Bus service is open to everyone and provides curb to curb service by appointment. Charges are determined by distance. The BitterRoot Bus operates Monday thru Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm . The bus service is provided through an ADA-accessible 14-passenger van. Royal Limousine Service is licensed to provide service between all points and places in Missoula County and Ra- valli County. Bitterroot Taxi has applied for a taxi license to provide service in Hamilton. Inter-city service is provided by an airport shuttle has a one-way license for service from Missoula the Interna- tional Airport to Ravalli County and the Missoula-Ravalli Transportation Management Association which oper- ates a van pool from Missoula to Ravalli County. Individuals are picked up at park and ride sites near their home-town and dropped off at their work-place. (http://www.mrtma.org/) The Five Valley Regional Transit Study (2008) study intercity bus needs in Lincoln, Sanders, Granite, Missoula, and Ravalli County. The study recommended phasing in bus service on the US 93 corridor with a Missoula to Hamilton bus commencing in phase 2. 5. Rail Montana Rail Link (MRL) operates a single-line federal Railroad Administration Class 2 freight line runs from Missoula through Hamilton to Darby. There are four additional stations along this line at Lolo (MP 11), Stevens- ville (MP 29.2), Victor (MP 35.6), and Hamilton (MP 48.0). The entire line is single-track. Most of the line has a maximum speed of 25 mph, with areas near Hamilton and Darby at 10 mph. According to the 2000 Montana State Rail Plan Update this 65.4-mile single track branch line has a maximum speed of 25 mph, can carry a maximum car weight of 134 tons. The 2000 Montana Rail Plan Update reports that traffic has fluctuated and in 2001 the rail line traffic had as many as 818 carloads per year. Traffic has decreased since then that peak year. There were 3 carloads per mile in 2003. MRL states that recent traffic since 2000 has been lumber, pro- pane and grain. The rail line has limited load capacity and many grade crossings.