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Missoula County administrators agree to back Reserve Street safety grant and provide letter of support
Summary
County administrators agreed to provide a letter of support for a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant to fund quick-build safety improvements on Reserve Street, noting the city has offered a local match of about $200,000–$250,000 and that the project would combine demonstration and implementation elements.
Missoula County administrators agreed to provide a letter of support for a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant application aimed at quick-build safety improvements along Reserve Street. The project, as presented to the county, would use a combination of demonstration projects and lower-cost implementation measures to address intersections with histories of fatal or serious-injury crashes.
Charlie (speaker 8), who described the application, said the city has offered a local match of about $200,000 to $250,000 and that the grant package mixes demonstration elements (intended for before-and-after study) with implementation components. Charlie identified high-priority intersections for quick-build changes as International/Stockyard, American Way/River Road and Old US 93, and said the team is also considering pedestrian crossing improvements near 7th Street and the existing crossing by the Homewood Suites on the north side of the corridor.
Commissioners discussed whether demonstration elements require the 20% nonfederal match and how the combined approach would be budgeted. The chair said he had heard that strictly demonstration projects might not require a nonfederal match; Charlie responded that, in his reading of the combined application, the match was expected to apply across the elements and that some implementation elements will require the match. Charlie also described planned quick actions such as advanced-warning signage and dynamic speed feedback signs in high-speed sections.
County members expressed support for the grant application. After the presentation and discussion, the group signaled agreement for staff or the board chair to finalize and sign a letter of support so the application can be submitted.
The county will not be committing to long-term hard infrastructure in the letter beyond supporting the grant application; Charlie said the quick-build demonstration work is intended to inform later, higher-cost redesigns if studies show the changes are effective. Staff and elected officials noted follow-up steps will include defining which demonstration sites will be implemented under the grant and clarifying match obligations in the final application.
