City Commissioners approved the 2024 Great Falls Area Long Range Transportation Plan during their Oct. 15 meeting.
The plan is updated every five years and is required to identify and construct transportation projects using federal transportation funds.
The Great Falls urban area has a population of more than 50,000 and a current, compliant long range transportation plan that must be “fiscally constrained” and meet other federal requirements, according to city staff.
The city hired Robert Peccia and Associates in early 2023 to assist in preparing the updated plan. The consulting firm has worked on many of the previous plans and other transportation planning projects in the area.
The consultant gathered and analyzed data, held two public meetings and an open survey on transportation.
The draft was available for a 30-day public comment period.
Draft transportation plan open for public review, comment
The consultants reviewed levels of services at intersections; analyzed major roads for congestion, both current and projected; identified crash hotspots; assessed non-motorized connectivity and infrastructure; summarized transit constraints and limitations.
The consultant team worked with city planning staff, the Montana Department of Transportation and federal agencies to complete the plan update.
The plan includes several tiers of projects.
The first is committee projects, which are those that have been approved by the Great Falls Policy Coordinating Committee and have identified funding.
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The committed projects included in the long range transportation plan are generally expected to be completed within the next four years, according to the plan. The list also includes some known pavement preservation activities.
One of the committed projects in the LRTP is the River’s Edge Trail connected that will be a bike and pedestrian shared use path along River Drive from 3rd Avenue South to 1st Avenue North with rectangular rapid flashing beacons at River Drive at-grade crossings, which are the Electric City Water Park and 3rd Avenue South. The project is an estimated $4,270,500, according to the plan to be funded in part with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds.
The committed projects also include reconstructing the Gore Hill interchange at an estimated $31,469,900. The project was initially included in the 2018 LRTP.
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Committed projects identified in the plan also includes pavement preservation on 14th and 15th streets in Great Falls at an estimated $1,849,900.
Other committed projects include:
Other high interest areas identified in the plan, that don’t have identified funding, include:
- Highway 87/15th Street Northeast/Old Havre Highway and various associated roadway segments and connections – including Bootlegger Trail;
- River Drive North from 15th Street North to 38th Street North, the two-lane segment, including the intersection at 25th Street North and the intersection at 15th Street North;
- Fox Farm Road/Country Club Boulevard intersection, including the eastbound leg of I-315;
- addressing aging bridges, including Warden Bridge and 15th Street bridge; and 38th Street North intersections, including 2nd Avenue North and Central Avenue.
The plan also includes a list of 27 recommended projects, which include those not yet completed from the 2018 LRTP and others identified through public and stakeholder outreach and partner agency coordination.
Amendment to long range transportation plan on March 15 city agenda [2022]
Projects on the recommended list are those that scored high based on need and support, as well as anticipated funding. Lower scoring projects and larger, more costly projects that aren’t expected to be funding between 2029 and 2045 are included in the illustrative project list in the plan.
“If we find the money would be good to move them forward,” Andrew Finch, city transportation planner, said of illustrative projects.
Updates considered to transportation plan to move two projects to recommended list [2019]
Cost estimates for recommended projects were calculated in 2023 dollars and inflated to year-of-expenditure dollars using a three percent annual inflation factor. The LRTP also includes proposed funding sources for the recommended project list, but other sources may be available.
The plan requires approval from various boards, including the city and county commissioners, before approval by the Policy Coordinating Committee, which will send the plan to the federal approving agencies for final consideration and concurrence.
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The PCC includes representatives from the city, county, Great Falls Transit District, Montana Highway Patrol and the Federal Highway Administration.
