EAST HELENA — East Helena was announced as the recipient of a more than $10 million federal grant to reconstruct Valley Dr. in the summer of 2024. It has been almost two years, and no work has been done on the road. Viewer Connie asked what is going on? MTN found out that the city is still working through the grant process.
According to city officials, the project is currently in the federal highways legal review phase of the grant process.
“(We’re) working through that process, there are three main steps to it, this is the second step,” East Helena Mayor Kelly Harris said, “We’re working through that process every day.”
The about $10.2 million in funding comes from the US Department of Transportation’s RAISE—or Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity—grant program. It is meant to create needed infrastructure in rural and urban areas.
East Helena was announced as a recipient of the multi-million-dollar RAISE grant in June 2024. At the time, it was said the more than $10 million in grant funding would be used to widen Valley Dr. and create other improvements along the road, possibly including a walking path, bike lane, curb gutters, storm drains and better crosswalks.
Lewis and Clark County completed widening and improvements along Valley Dr. from Plant Rd. N. To Canyon Ferry Rd. in 2023.
Two schools are located on Valley Dr.—Prickly Pear Elementary School and East Helena High School. According to the Montana Department of Transportation, more than 4,000 cars travel Valley Dr. each day. City officials said they know there are issues along the road.
“We try and patch the potholes,” Harris said. “We could do some major patching, but that would seem wasteful to tear it up afterwards, after we patched it now.”
While the start date for the federal grant-funded roadwork on Valley Dr. has changed, Harris said the city is hopeful to get work going in the summer of 2028.
“The grant process is arduous, but it’s something that is going to be beneficial to the city, so we’re going to do that process,” Harris said.
