MISSOULA — While the city continues to replace its aging water mains and other key infrastructure, it's also working with transportation officials to ensure grants already approved by the federal government come through amid the Trump administration's cuts.
Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis this week said she's working with key partners, including the Montana Department of Transportation and Missoula County, to find clarity over the fate of several federal grants.
“We're working to provide clarity on whether those grants are going to come through,” Davis said. “It's unclear whether individual projects will have their priority or not.”
The city over the past year has been awarded a number of grants that were years in the making.
Last April, it was awarded $24 million for the Safety, Access and Mobility (SAM) project that will reconfigure the downtown transportation grid.
The city applied for that grant in February 2023, though it's currently unclear on whether the federal government will actually deliver the money.
Last March, Missoula County also received $24 million to redevelop the Highway 200 corridor through East Missoula — another project that took several years to put together.
More recently, the city was awarded roughly $59million in partnership with the Montana Department of Transportation to widen Russell Street. That effort began nearly a decade ago but the funding is now in question.
Work to transform the Brooks Street corridor into a bus rapid-transit line with pedestrian improvements also remains in limbo, though the Missoula Redevelopment Agency remains optimistic.
“We hope that there will be no impact on our funding if the planning is complete by March 31, but there are no guarantees in a landscape that seems to be changing daily,” MRA Director Ellen Buchanan stated in her monthly report.
County grant officials also expressedsimilar concerns earlier this week. But despite the uncertainty, the county plans to “proceed as normal and assume the funding will be there.”
Davis said the Montana Department of Transportation works in coalition with several surrounding states and is pushing to ensure Montana receives its federal awards.
“The state has over $400 million in federal awards that are pending,” Davis said. “We continue to articulate our needs for how these infrastructure grants increase safety and support economic development.”
