MISSOULA — If you have been in Downtown Missoula in the past few months, you have probably noticed the big fences surrounding Caras Park. Construction to improve river access has been underway since September.
Caras Park is a Missoula staple. But, visitors have always had to contend with a major problem, the steep slope between the park and the water.
“We've heard from a lot of people that they love to see the river from the trail and that the rivers next to the parks is great,” said Nathan McLeod, associate director of planning, design and projects for the City of Missoula Parks and Recreation. “A lot of folks actually have a lot of difficulty getting down to the water and they can't get their toes in the water, they can't get to the river. The Caras River Access is intended to provide better access down to the edge of the water at Brennan's Wave.”
That is where the Caras Terrace comes in, with steps and ramps down to the river. McLeod said this will not only make it easier to get to the river but also help keep the river healthy in such a high-traffic area.
“Since the Milltown Dam was removed years ago, we've seen an explosion of recreational river use and, with that recreational use, we've seen a lot of erosion happening on the banks,” McLeod said.
Construction on the project started in September before pausing in December due to winter weather.
“It’s going great! We are probably 60% complete at this point,” McLeod said. “We had to make sure that everything is engineered to withstand floods. We did excavation. We installed the ADA walkways, the ramps that get you down to the water. We installed some retaining walls, we added a riprap. We got all the work done below the ordinary high water marks so that we're ready for high water, if it were to come early.”
Still to come are rocks for the terraces down to the river, the new balcony looking out over the wave, plenty of plants and new signs. Caras is just the first step of a larger plan to make the Clark Fork more accessible and healthier through Downtown Missoula.
“I think we're restoring about 3,000 linear feet of banks,” McLeod said.
While it depends on the weather, step one is nearly finished.
“We do intend to be complete by surf season. Before high water, we're hoping to get everything done so that we can open that space up to people that want to access Brennan’s Wave,” McLeod said.
