[MissoulaGov] Public Works -- August 19, 2009

[Jason Wiener]

In Public Works, we approved a resolution supporting an application for a federal DOT TIGER grant, a program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grants are designed to help make the transportation system work better for all modes so there has to be a tie to pedestrian or cyclist benefit as I understand it. At any rate, it would allow us to complete a raft of work we've been wanting to do for years. The following projects are proposed to have the grant applied: http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2050. In many cases, the projects will also require some assessment or SID component but they will significantly lower the overall cost, which we can only hope will make projects like Hillview Way more palatable to the assessed.

We also adopted a Complete Streets Resolution -- http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1954. As a policy statement, this commits us to building complete streets whenever we have the opportunity and directs staff to examine regulations for their adherence to the policy. That includes subdivision regulations but it probably also means moving some of the street standards in those regulations out into the municipal code. We also need to get looking at how to keep retrofits moving so we can complete existing facilities, especially sidewalks. Doug Harby, the project manager for sidewalk construction, reports that 60-70% of staff time when we do projects by assessing adjacent owners, by far the most common method, is spent on dealing with the assessments rather than the engineering. That's incredibly inefficient and we could be doing more projects with less money if we had a different funding mechanism.

Thanks for your interest.
J.

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Jason Wiener, Alderman, Ward One
1238 Jackson St.
Missoula, MT 59802
(406) 542-3232


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