MISSOULA — The spring runoff down Grant Creek will take a different course this spring as work to restore the beleaguered waterway begins in the coming weeks.
After years of planning, funding for the project is now in place, along with the contractor, right-of-way and the final design. It's the first phase of what could be many to follow as resource managers look to restore the watershed from its confluence to its origin.
Andy Schultz, city engineer for utilities and the Grant Creek project manager, said the creek was moved from its original channel years ago. The result left the creek as little more than a glorified ditch with little in the way of riparian habitat.
“There's been multiple projects over time that looked at fixing that channel alignment,” Schultz said. “It was originally part of a flood control project in the early 2000s that the county undertook further south of there. But then it was removed at the last minute.”
The project was again set to begin several years ago after Missoula County and the city applied for and received funding for the Mullan BUILD project. But the award was less than expected and the Grant Creek project was again removed from the project list.
But since then, the Clark Fork Coalition formed the Grant Creek working group, which has helped push the project forward. The county again sought funding for the work and this time, it was awarded roughly $1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Additional funding will come from the county's trails bond fund and special impact fees placed on new development in the Sxwtpqyen area.
“This project will restore the creek, establish the floodplain and allow some trail connectivity we haven't had previously out there,” said Schultz. “This project will straighten that stream alignment, but with a lot sinuosity. We've secured a 200-foot-wide floodplain easement from the property owners.”
The project has also negotiated an additional 100-foot-wide riparian buffer on either side of the floodplain, bringing the swath of greenspace to 400 feet. Work will return the creek to its original channel by removing a large bend that abuts airport property.
The final project will also remove neighboring property from the floodplain, poising it for future development. On Monday, Schultz told county officials that the project will also include a new segment of the Grant Creek Trail.
“That will be dedicated as parkland and open space as part of the project,” he said. “The Grant Creek Trail has the potential to link to other potential trails. It's a little pie in the sky right now, but maybe there's new trails down West Broadway and connecting into these other developments.”
A number of new subdivisions and commercial development are expected soon near the West Broadway corridor. George Elmer Drive will connect the area to the corridor and cross the Grant Creek project area.
Schultz said the project was bid in December. This week, it will be referred to the Missoula City Council for the official go. And while the project is slightly more than what officials had hoped to fund, the long-anticipated project can be checked off the books.
“They'll have a stream restoration specialist sub-contracted for the project,” Schultz said. “This is a big earth-moving project with a stream restoration project in the middle of it. We'll be doing a lot of plantings and we'll get these future connections once the floodplain is removed and these developments happen.”
