Bozeman staff eye Hagerty Lane, sports-park sidewalk and crossing package for $1.39M MPO Transportation Alternatives funds

The Bozeman Transportation Board on Jan. 22 received an overview of the Gallatin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Alternatives (TA) funding and an initial list of city candidate projects staff may submit for the 2025 round.

Jeff Butz, Gallatin Valley MPO manager, told the board the TA program is federal funding that supports bicycle and pedestrian projects and ADA-accessibility work within the urbanized area; the MPO’s share for the Bozeman urbanized area is roughly $1.39 million for this cycle. Butz described the MPO’s scoring approach, risk areas (financial, environmental, utilities/right-of-way and boundary jurisdiction), and a three-person scoring committee that will evaluate applications.

Why it matters: TA grants are a routine source of federal dollars for constructed pedestrian and bicycle improvements; city staff said the TA funds could pay for sidewalks or crossing packages that would be otherwise difficult to fund locally.

Taylor Lonsdale, city transportation engineer, presented an initial staff list of Bozeman candidates: a sidewalk along Flanders Mill adjacent to the sports park; a sidewalk/shared-use-path segment along Hagerty Lane (a long-standing gap often cited by safety advocates); and a multi-location pedestrian crossing project that would bundle refuge islands, curb extensions and rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs) at several collector/arterial crossings.

Staff emphasized that right-of-way is a major eligibility and delivery risk for TA-funded projects. Lonsdale said his selection approach is to prefer projects with clear public benefit and low-to-moderate delivery risk — projects that can be readily converted from a ranked gap into a deliverable construction package.

Board members and the public urged Hagerty Lane as a high priority because it provides one of the few year-round east–west routes and can become unsafe in winter. Safer Bozeman advocate Merilee Brown told the board Hagerty Lane is ‘‘a real big safety issue’’ with no alternative route for pedestrians in winter.

Staff said the city will coordinate with other eligible applicants in the Bozeman urbanized area — the Urban Transportation District (UTD/Streamline) and the school district were cited — and will confirm whether those organizations plan to apply for TA funds or request the city to sponsor projects. Lonsdale said local match options being considered include the city’s annual multimodal fund (about $100,000/year), arterial/collector district funds and a remaining balance in the STR 132 set-aside.

Schedule and next steps: TA applications are due in early April (staff cited an April 9 deadline for supplemental materials). Staff plans to finalize the gap analysis output, meet with other eligible applicants, develop a recommended application package, and return to the board with a final proposal.

Votes at a glance (procedural votes recorded during the meeting): - Motion to excuse board members Bryce and Courtney: moved by Riel; seconded by Paul; outcome: approved, recorded as 5–0. - Motion to approve minutes from the Dec. 5, 2024 meeting: moved by Hayden; seconded by Rio; outcome: approved, recorded as 5–0.

Ending note: Staff will bring a final recommendation back to the board after the gap-analysis output is available and after discussions with other applicants, and will complete TA application materials if the board concurs.