MISSOULA — A $26 million project to overhaul downtown Missoula is nearly finalized. New details show what driving, biking and walking through the city’s core could soon look like.
Front Street and Main Street will be converted back to two-way traffic, with parking on both sides and bike lanes along the roads.
Higgins Avenue will become three lanes with a center turn lane and protected bike shoulders.
An ADA-accessible ramp will be added to the northeast side of Beartracks Bridge.
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While it may be less noticeable than other changes, new traffic signal timing could have one of the biggest impacts on how people move through downtown.
I attended an open house hosted by the city to gather community input on the project and spoke with several attendees about the proposed changes. Overall, many expressed optimism about downtown’s future.
"We go downtown pretty regularly, biking, walking and driving, pretty consistently," said Jackson Melin, a Missoula resident. "So it looks like it'll be easier to navigate for everybody. Just a lot less contact with their conflict points."
"I think it's going to be a more enjoyable place to be if there are less cars basically just trying to get through and not actually maybe coming to enjoy the downtown space," said Elayna Shapino, a Missoula resident.
Planning for the project is expected to be finalized later this summer, and the city hopes construction will begin this fall. Funding is already secured, with the vast majority coming from a federal grant.
