Public Engagement Center

Take the Downtown SAM 30% Design Survey

Get Involved!

Public involvement will help develop the final design of the Downtown SAM project. While the design phase has started, construction is projected to begin in 2027.

Throughout the design phase, there will be public outreach events, public meetings, and the citizen-led project working group will be meeting routinely. Here are the ways you can stay engaged with the Downtown SAM project:

Check the Key Dates and attend a public outreach event or public meeting
Subscribe for Project Updates
Ask a question about the project
Leave a comment about the project
Learn more about each of the Project Elements:
Read our FAQ
Observe a Working Group Meeting: Virtual Downtown SAM Working Group Meeting

Questions? Would you like to leave a comment? Ask here.

Have a question or a comment about the Downtown SAM project? Ask here and someone from the Project Team will get back to you.

Share I am totally against reducing the traffic lanes and parking in the downtown. Bicycles are less that 5% of all traffic and business support in the downtown. I walk over the Higgins Street bridge every day and if I see 5 bikes on the bridge at one time it would be a once a year occasion. Bike lanes already exist on Higgins and the $12 million dollar bridge and there meet the need. Two way streets are fine, new lights are fine. Add parking do not take any away. on Facebook Share I am totally against reducing the traffic lanes and parking in the downtown. Bicycles are less that 5% of all traffic and business support in the downtown. I walk over the Higgins Street bridge every day and if I see 5 bikes on the bridge at one time it would be a once a year occasion. Bike lanes already exist on Higgins and the $12 million dollar bridge and there meet the need. Two way streets are fine, new lights are fine. Add parking do not take any away. on Twitter Share I am totally against reducing the traffic lanes and parking in the downtown. Bicycles are less that 5% of all traffic and business support in the downtown. I walk over the Higgins Street bridge every day and if I see 5 bikes on the bridge at one time it would be a once a year occasion. Bike lanes already exist on Higgins and the $12 million dollar bridge and there meet the need. Two way streets are fine, new lights are fine. Add parking do not take any away. on Linkedin Email I am totally against reducing the traffic lanes and parking in the downtown. Bicycles are less that 5% of all traffic and business support in the downtown. I walk over the Higgins Street bridge every day and if I see 5 bikes on the bridge at one time it would be a once a year occasion. Bike lanes already exist on Higgins and the $12 million dollar bridge and there meet the need. Two way streets are fine, new lights are fine. Add parking do not take any away. link

I am totally against reducing the traffic lanes and parking in the downtown. Bicycles are less that 5% of all traffic and business support in the downtown. I walk over the Higgins Street bridge every day and if I see 5 bikes on the bridge at one time it would be a once a year occasion. Bike lanes already exist on Higgins and the $12 million dollar bridge and there meet the need. Two way streets are fine, new lights are fine. Add parking do not take any away.

captngb asked 4 days ago

Hello,
Thanks for your feedback. Your comments will be shared with the Project Leadership Team. If you haven't already, we'd encourage you to take the 30% Design Survey.
Regards,
Downtown SAM Project Management Team
Share Could you please put the 30% complete visuals online for people to view and take the survey? on Facebook Share Could you please put the 30% complete visuals online for people to view and take the survey? on Twitter Share Could you please put the 30% complete visuals online for people to view and take the survey? on Linkedin Email Could you please put the 30% complete visuals online for people to view and take the survey? link

Could you please put the 30% complete visuals online for people to view and take the survey?

Maybe Missoula asked 3 days ago

Hello,
Thanks for your patience. The boards from the 30% Design open house and the roll plots are now available for viewing in the Public Engagement Center under the link "Open House Materials."
Regards,
Downtown SAM Project Team
Share I'm curious how long the Downtown SAM 30% survey will be open? Thanks! Amy on Facebook Share I'm curious how long the Downtown SAM 30% survey will be open? Thanks! Amy on Twitter Share I'm curious how long the Downtown SAM 30% survey will be open? Thanks! Amy on Linkedin Email I'm curious how long the Downtown SAM 30% survey will be open? Thanks! Amy link

I'm curious how long the Downtown SAM 30% survey will be open? Thanks! Amy

Amy Cil asked 4 days ago

Hi Amy,
Thanks for asking! The Downtown SAM 30% Survey will close on October 22, 2025.
Regards,
The Downtown SAM Project Team
Share Hello - is there a way to comment on the SAM for downtown because I can't come to the October 8th meeting?? I'll be out of town. I would like to comment that I strongly feel that Higgins Bear track bridge should NOT be converted to 2 lane. We paid for those shared use paths on the bridge and that is what they are for!! Missoula does not realize the increase in traffic going on and the frustration about trying to get through town at rush hour. You can encourage pedestrian and bike traffic all you want, but Missoula is in the middle of no where and people have to DRIVE to get here or to drive through it! You need cars. ANd road rage is increasing during rush hour. You need to do things to increase flow through downtown, especially if you want people to come downtown and use downtown. Please do not gum up traffic more than it already is in Missoula!! Please realize that the cars are NOT going away. This is not Seattle or Portland. THanks. Cathy Stewart on Facebook Share Hello - is there a way to comment on the SAM for downtown because I can't come to the October 8th meeting?? I'll be out of town. I would like to comment that I strongly feel that Higgins Bear track bridge should NOT be converted to 2 lane. We paid for those shared use paths on the bridge and that is what they are for!! Missoula does not realize the increase in traffic going on and the frustration about trying to get through town at rush hour. You can encourage pedestrian and bike traffic all you want, but Missoula is in the middle of no where and people have to DRIVE to get here or to drive through it! You need cars. ANd road rage is increasing during rush hour. You need to do things to increase flow through downtown, especially if you want people to come downtown and use downtown. Please do not gum up traffic more than it already is in Missoula!! Please realize that the cars are NOT going away. This is not Seattle or Portland. THanks. Cathy Stewart on Twitter Share Hello - is there a way to comment on the SAM for downtown because I can't come to the October 8th meeting?? I'll be out of town. I would like to comment that I strongly feel that Higgins Bear track bridge should NOT be converted to 2 lane. We paid for those shared use paths on the bridge and that is what they are for!! Missoula does not realize the increase in traffic going on and the frustration about trying to get through town at rush hour. You can encourage pedestrian and bike traffic all you want, but Missoula is in the middle of no where and people have to DRIVE to get here or to drive through it! You need cars. ANd road rage is increasing during rush hour. You need to do things to increase flow through downtown, especially if you want people to come downtown and use downtown. Please do not gum up traffic more than it already is in Missoula!! Please realize that the cars are NOT going away. This is not Seattle or Portland. THanks. Cathy Stewart on Linkedin Email Hello - is there a way to comment on the SAM for downtown because I can't come to the October 8th meeting?? I'll be out of town. I would like to comment that I strongly feel that Higgins Bear track bridge should NOT be converted to 2 lane. We paid for those shared use paths on the bridge and that is what they are for!! Missoula does not realize the increase in traffic going on and the frustration about trying to get through town at rush hour. You can encourage pedestrian and bike traffic all you want, but Missoula is in the middle of no where and people have to DRIVE to get here or to drive through it! You need cars. ANd road rage is increasing during rush hour. You need to do things to increase flow through downtown, especially if you want people to come downtown and use downtown. Please do not gum up traffic more than it already is in Missoula!! Please realize that the cars are NOT going away. This is not Seattle or Portland. THanks. Cathy Stewart link

Hello - is there a way to comment on the SAM for downtown because I can't come to the October 8th meeting?? I'll be out of town. I would like to comment that I strongly feel that Higgins Bear track bridge should NOT be converted to 2 lane. We paid for those shared use paths on the bridge and that is what they are for!! Missoula does not realize the increase in traffic going on and the frustration about trying to get through town at rush hour. You can encourage pedestrian and bike traffic all you want, but Missoula is in the middle of no where and people have to DRIVE to get here or to drive through it! You need cars. ANd road rage is increasing during rush hour. You need to do things to increase flow through downtown, especially if you want people to come downtown and use downtown. Please do not gum up traffic more than it already is in Missoula!! Please realize that the cars are NOT going away. This is not Seattle or Portland. THanks. Cathy Stewart

Cathy asked 13 days ago

Hi Cathy,
Thanks for your question on Engage Missoula! This is one of the best ways to ask a question or leave a comment for the Project Team. Our designers are aware of the current traffic volumes on Higgins, and the Downtown SAM Project does aim to increase mobility for all users—including vehicles. We’d encourage you to check out our Downtown Signals Optimization element of the Downtown SAM Project as this is one of the design solutions in the project intended to help with traffic flow through downtown. We will also upload materials from the October 8 Open House to this Public Engagement Center so please check back later this month.
We’re sorry you won’t be able to attend the Open House on October 8, but we hope we’ll see you at future Open Houses for the project.
Best regards
Downtown SAM Project Team
Share We heard there was a meeting last week about SAM, with the working group, and that some significant changes were made. We follow the agendas and meeting notices on this page and did not see any notice about a meeting or any meeting agendas. Was there in fact a meeting, and, if so, why was it not noticed? When and where are the August and September meetings? Thank you, -Bob Giordano, Director, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation on Facebook Share We heard there was a meeting last week about SAM, with the working group, and that some significant changes were made. We follow the agendas and meeting notices on this page and did not see any notice about a meeting or any meeting agendas. Was there in fact a meeting, and, if so, why was it not noticed? When and where are the August and September meetings? Thank you, -Bob Giordano, Director, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation on Twitter Share We heard there was a meeting last week about SAM, with the working group, and that some significant changes were made. We follow the agendas and meeting notices on this page and did not see any notice about a meeting or any meeting agendas. Was there in fact a meeting, and, if so, why was it not noticed? When and where are the August and September meetings? Thank you, -Bob Giordano, Director, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation on Linkedin Email We heard there was a meeting last week about SAM, with the working group, and that some significant changes were made. We follow the agendas and meeting notices on this page and did not see any notice about a meeting or any meeting agendas. Was there in fact a meeting, and, if so, why was it not noticed? When and where are the August and September meetings? Thank you, -Bob Giordano, Director, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation link

We heard there was a meeting last week about SAM, with the working group, and that some significant changes were made. We follow the agendas and meeting notices on this page and did not see any notice about a meeting or any meeting agendas. Was there in fact a meeting, and, if so, why was it not noticed? When and where are the August and September meetings? Thank you, -Bob Giordano, Director, Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation

Bob Giordano asked 3 months ago

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your question. We post the Working Group Meeting dates in the "Key Dates" widget on this page. If you're viewing the page on mobile, you may have to scroll a little bit. The July meeting date was posted but is not visible now because only future dates are visible in the widget. The meeting agendas and summaries are posted in the "Working Group Materials" widget. Again, if you're viewing on mobile, you'll need to scroll down, and they are below the "Downtown Safety Access and Mobility Project Elements" widget. Also, I just updated the "Key Dates" so you should now be able to see the August and September Working Group Meeting Dates. A link to join these meetings is posted in the description above but I've linked it again here for easy referencing: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OGUxODc5NWQtMmViZC00ZjA4LTgyZTItM2U1ZTU1NWZkZTVj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22780c98fa-77d6-4c0f-972a-39b490a4f641%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%220eb44b16-0c03-40ec-b30b-0b1062a63674%22%7d.
If you'd like to attend in person, the meetings are held in the basement conference room at First Interstate Bank – Basement Training Room, 101 East Front Street. Summer meetings take place from 9:00am - 12:00pm. While the public is welcome to observe Working Group meetings, the meetings are not open for public comment.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Thanks for engaging!
Ashley Warren
Communications Specialist