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Belgrade wins two state TA grants to extend sidewalks near high school
Summary
Belgrade officials said the city captured two Transportation Alternatives awards to build sidewalks and drainage on Hoffman Street and Helen Drive, covering most project costs with grants the city expects to approve through the Transportation Commission this fall.
Belgrade’s public works director told the City Council that the city received two Transportation Alternatives (TA) grant awards to expand sidewalks and storm-drain improvements in older neighborhoods.
Public Works Director Kim Rey Iulia said the larger project—Hoffman Street from Main to Cameron, the stretch in front of the high school—is estimated at $3,100,000 and the TA program will contribute up to $1,500,000. The Helen Hoffman sidewalk improvements project is estimated at $1,700,000 with just under $1,500,000 in TA funding, Rey Iulia said. “To put that in perspective, there was about $9,100,000 available in the TA statewide pool this cycle, and we picked up a third of it,” she said.
Rey Iulia described the Hoffman Street work as curb, gutter, sidewalk and storm-drain upgrades similar to past work on Cameron Avenue, with an intent to connect new segments into the existing sidewalk network. She said the Helen Hoffman project will install sidewalks on the west side of Hoffman Street up to Helen Drive and on the north side of Helen Drive to link to the Cameron Avenue project.
The awards have been announced and the city received a letter from the Montana Department of Transportation; Rey Iulia said the projects require Transportation Commission authorization, which staff expect in October, before final agreements with MDT. She told the council design work could begin in 2026 and construction is likely in 2028, based on prior TA project schedules.
Council members asked about irrigation ditch crossings and whether temporary planks or noncompliant structures would be addressed. Rey Iulia recommended early winter/late-winter utility work—“you gotta go in in, like, January or February and…put in some section of pipe”—and said staff would coordinate with the ditch company and property owners to address encroachments that fall outside the city right of way.
Rey Iulia said bidding the two adjacent projects together may reduce costs and could make it feasible to add sidewalks on both sides of Hoffman Street rather than only one.
The Transportation Commission’s expected October authorization is the next procedural milestone; staff did not present a formal council action for approval at the workshop.
