Missoula Connect: 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan

The Missoula area is home to more than 82,000 residents spread over 263 square miles. With a thriving downtown, unique residential neighborhoods, a large public research university, and proximity to world-class outdoor recreation, the region is growing quickly. With more people come new opportunities and challenges including the need to better integrate transportation and land use to create a more equitable transportation system and provide new mobility options that enhance affordability and livability.

Nelson\Nygaard completed an update to the Long-Range Transportation Plan for the Missoula Urbanized Area to the year 2050. Critical to the plan’s development has been a robust public participation strategy that has included stakeholder interviews, working sessions with MPO committees and policy makers, and interactive events. The plan moved forward during the COVID-19 pandemic through increased online engagement, virtual committee meetings, and close coordination between Nelson\Nygaard and MPO staff.

‍

Nelson\Nygaard developed goals and performance measures to inform an evaluation framework and project prioritization, and the team gathered multimodal project ideas from stakeholders and the public. The fiscally constrained project list was informed by growth scenarios and focuses on regional challenges of housing affordability, access to opportunities, and seasonal visitor growth by drawing a close tie between transportation investments and land use. The team has also created  programmatic recommendations, including a focus on transportation demand management, neighborhood greenways, and partnerships with new mobility providers.