The entrance to Gibson Park had long been identified as a safety concern for park users since it was a skewed intersection with an extremely wide entrance to the park and has a high number of pedestrian crossings.

This summer, the Montana Department of Transportation, in partnership with the City of Great Falls, completed a $577,000 project to make the park entrance at 4th Avenue North and 2nd Street pedestrian friendly.

MDT and the city are holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formerly celebrate completion of the project at 3 p.m. on Oct. 24 at the main entrance of the park.

Gibson Park pedestrian crossing, Cascade sidewalk improvements coming in August

The project adjusted the angle of the side streets; striped a formal extra-wide pedestrian crossing; narrowed the wide-open park entrance; and built a more direct connection to the River’s Edge Trail, the historic “Vinegar” Jones Cabin and the Missouri River, according to a city release.

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Last week, Park and Recreation staff and park board members said they’d had positive feedback about the new entrance in recent weeks.

“Although it’s only been open for a few weeks, we can already see drivers are being more cautious, stopping for pedestrians and slowing down to enter into Gibson Park,” Park and Rec Director Steve Herrig said in a release.

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The project was funded through MDT’s Transportation Alternatives Program and the federal grant was matched by dollars from the city’s public works department, Park Trust Fund, the state and the River’s Edge Trail Foundation.

For more information or for accommodation during the ceremony for persons with disabilities, contact city transportation planner Andrew Finch at 455-8434, or afinch@greatfallmt.net.