MISSOULA - Thursday marked the start of Missoula's $13 million housing and infrastructure project as crews broke ground near Camden Street on the Mullan BUILD project.
"We'll see a lot of construction work going this summer," said Missoula Public Works and Mobility Director Jeremy Keene.
Phase one is now officially underway, and that means road construction for Mary Jane Boulevard. For what's called Mary Jane North, crews are building the infrastructure needed to connect Flynn Lane to Broadway. Work also started Thursday for Mary Jane South — the future thoroughfare between Flynn and Camden Street.
Phase one will also include updates to George Elmer Drive and England Boulevard. Keene said there will be travel delays in the area where the work is happening.
The project is a long time coming, and aims to make a dent in Missoula's housing crisis.
"We're seeing home building right now, we think those will come along pretty quickly. There's areas that are already under development, there's areas that are in the pipeline for development review. So we think that's going to be a pretty steady stream of new building happening."
The final timeline for the entire project is still in the works, as additional funding is needed for future phases. However, phase one should be mostly completed by the end of the year. Officials are applying for a federal RAISE grant to fund the rest of the project.
Additional information about the project can be found at https://www.mullanbuild.com/.
