Plans to improve the Highway 200 corridor through East Missoula have been long in the making but funding announced on Tuesday will move the project forward.
While construction of the east concourse at Missoula Montana Airport's passenger terminal advances, a federal grant will enable airport officials to include the third and final phase of the project sooner than anticipated.
Missoula County on Thursday approved a number of agreements directed at several ailing bridges and signed a letter to the federal government hoping to land up to $25 million in additional funding.
With several bridges out of service due to structural issues, Missoula County on Tuesday approved an agreement with a local engineering firm to draft a grant application in hopes of landing funding to complete repairs.
The current spans are at risk of failure in an earthquake. The grant is the first significant commitment of federal dollars for the replacement project, which has been under discussion for over two decades.
The cost to complete repairs on the Northside Pedestrian Bridge continue to climb, but members of the Missoula City Council said the project's budget will cover such contingencies and that work will still be finished by mid-summer.