MISSOULA – The Missoula City Council has been presented with details on the city’s sidewalk improvement project, specifically how certain areas have been prioritized.
Things like social equity and attractors to specific destinations were put into an equation to determine which areas needed improvements the most, and improvements to safety at roadway intersections were also taken into consideration.
Overall, officials determined that improving sidewalks around destinations like schools and commuter paths were important, but social equity should be a priority.
"A lot of what we heard was that the destinations are important but that addressing the social equity piece is more important and you can still prioritize some of those destinations, but within those high priority social equity," transportation planner Aaron Wilson said.
"So, for example, if you’re looking at this part of Franklin to the Fort, you can still prioritize access to schools. When you’re picking the project in that area there are still some thinking it’s a high-priority area, but you still have to identify a project and you can prioritize those destinations within that area," Wilson added.
Areas of the city without sidewalks received a higher priority and it would cost an estimated $84 million to install sidewalks everywhere in the city.
