HELENA — From walking, to biking, to driving, the city of Helena continues to look at how they can improve transportation for the future - and they need the public’s input to do it.
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The Greater Helena MPO — or metropolitan planning organization — is in the final stages of putting together its Long Range Transportation Plan after two rounds of public feedback and now a third open house series this week.
“Public are the ones who drive the roads, whether it be going to work or dropping kids off at school or soccer practice or just want to go for a walk or a ride,” stated Greater Helena MPO manager Ty Weingartner. “We really need this public feedback to say this is what is needed to make our community better.”
Citizens have asked for better sidewalk connections, safer routes to school, more protected bike lanes, and improvements on high-traffic roads like Custer and Montana.
The biggest themes so far — safety, traffic flow, and expanding public transit options.
“We do have a non-motorized network here in the MPO area,” Weingartner continued, “although it may not be as well connected as some would like, so how can we provide more of a non-motorized transportation network that connects all parts of the MPO?”
The plan also looks at congestion, the highly requested railroad crossings, and future transit connections across the region.
Officials say projects are being prioritized in three categories — projects with funding already to be done in the first five years, strongly recommended projects that still need funding in the five to ten year range, and long-term “nice to have” projects the community would like to see in the future.
The city says Helena’s population has grown by around a third from 2000 to 2023, and putting emphasis on long-term planning can help address future needs.
“With the growth of our community, how can our current roads be improved to handle this demand of traffic?” Weingartner asked.
The MPO expects to release a draft of the plan for public review at the end of September before final adoption is expected in December.
The MPO will be hosting two more open houses, Wednesday at Lewis and Clark Public Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Thursday at the Civic Center from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., for anyone looking to provide their input or learn more about the projects.
