Amendment to long range transportation plan on March 15 city agenda
The City Commission will consider adding a sidewalk infill project during their March 15 meeting to the regional transportation plan.
The Great Falls Area Long Range Transportation Plan was last updated in 2018 with a minor amendment in 2019.
A new project was recently proposed by city staff and that requires an amendment to the plan to add the project to the recommended projects list.
City seeking comment on transportation plan
The proposed new project includes the addition of a sidewalk infill project in the northwest quadrant of the city, focusing on sidewalk gaps near schools, parks, commercial corridors and utility corridors.
A project to install missing sidewalks around schools, parks and key locations was approved in 2011 but never initiated. City staff have recently identified key gaps in the sidewalk network for the northwest area of the city, provided cost estimates and recommend that the project be funded with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds at an estimated $4.7 million.
Updates considered to transportation plan to move two projects to recommended list
Staff plan to fill those sidewalk gaps as funding becomes available, according to the staff report for the March 15 commission meeting.
The project had been included in the plan’s nonmotorized committed projects list but wasn’t included on the overall funding table. This amendment will move it to the recommended projects list and the city’s public works department has planned about $630,000 in non-federal match funds. The source of those funds has not yet been identified but will likely be requested from the city’s future Bridge and Road Safety Accountability Act allocation, which is the city’s portion of the state gas tax, according to the city staff report.
Area transportation plan getting minor update
The amendment has been recommended by the Great Falls Technical Advisory Committee and the city planning board. Next the County Commission will need to take action on the item and a final determination will be made by the Policy Coordinating Committee.
