EAST MISSOULA — The Montana Metropolitan Planning Organization began what will be a long road to improving Montana Highway 200 in East Missoula on Thursday evening.
Community members attending an open house brought concerns and ideas to the table with many saying the busy road is lacking in a number of areas -- including having narrow sidewalks, poor lighting and unrestricted parking.
“Going through East Missoula there’s no access control, no sidewalks, it’s kind of a free-for-all during certain times of the day, particularly around Ole’s parking lot,” said long time East Missoula Resident Dick Ainsworth.
“People come and go willy nilly and don’t pay any attention to where the streets are because they don’t know where they are, and that’s really the problem," he added.
IMPO will host two more public comment phases in the coming months that organizers say will lay the groundwork for what they're calling, "East Missoula Highway 200 Corridor Plan.”
The project will cover ground from Van Buren Street to Tamarack Road.
Until a design has been completed and cost estimates determined, there’s no official timeline for the project.
In the meantime, if you’d like to submit your concerns and ideas to MPO, you can do on their website.
