Hellgate High School Area Parking Management
Defining the Problem
Missoula Parking Commission staff have identified that the root of the problems related to parking in the area* around Hellgate High School is capacity.
We know that there are:
- Approximately 1,300 students
- Approximately 100 staff members
- Approximately 577 living units
- 530 parking spaces
Because of this, we then see an increased number of safety-related parking violations in the area. These include vehicles blocking driveways and sidewalks, parking too close to crosswalks or fire hydrants, or creating visibility issues in yellow zones.
*Between S 4th St E and Daly Ave, and S Higgins Ave and Hilda Ave.
Engagement
Throughout the project MPC has engaged with the neighbors around Hellgate and worked to determine the best way to engage with Hellgate stakeholders, including both students and staff. In this current phase of more specialized engagement, we began with a visit to a Hellgate Student Council meeting in early March, where director Jodi Pilgrim and business manager Emily Maltaverne engaged in a listening session to gather feedback and share ideas. We have also welcomed a Hellgate senior student as an intern, specifically with the goal of creating further engagement opportunities. Jodi and Emily have also recently attended a University Neighborhood Council leadership meeting to discuss what we have learned from the students. Future engagement will include an ice cream social, which was suggested by the Hellgate Student Council as a way to help students and residents engage more directly with each other.
Key Learnings
Residents value access to the parking in front of their homes.
All stakeholder groups recognize the need for safer parking practices.
High parking demand in the area leads to students parking “wherever they can”, specifically into the residential areas around the high school and in front of the businesses on 5th St and 6th St off Higgins Ave.
None of the stakeholders currently support paid daily or hourly parking as a solution.
Should a permit program be introduced, the students want to ensure that the cost of a permit is affordable for all students and that it is accessible to obtain.
Students and staff are concerned about the impact of a permit program on accessibility to after-school events and activities, which bring visitors to the area.
Exploration of Solutions
In exploring the problem, we have identified a permit program as a potential solution based on our knowledge of parking management tools and our understanding of the stakeholder needs in the area.
Key features of a permit program:
Shows people where they can park, which helps to alleviate unsafe driving and parking practices
Limits the capacity to only as many vehicles as the area can accommodate
Restricts use of the parking to only the authorized user groups, in this case students, staff, and residents
While a permit program cannot reasonably be offered at no cost due to the cost of enforcement and program administration, we aim to make the permits affordable and accessible to all who need to purchase them.
For our Residential Permit Program that covers the residential area around the University of Montana, the proposed cost for fiscal year 2027 is $85.00. We recognize that the level of access to parking in the permit area will differ between students and staff, and residents, so we are considering a per-semester cost of $20.00 for the high school user group.
Exploring Other Management Tools
We are working with leadership of the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church to determine if there is potential for a management agreement for their 40-space parking lot on S 6th St E and Gerald Ave. This lot may support school parking needs, specifically for staff.
We are considering whether the removal of the 2-hour signage on 100 S 6th St would better support the parking needs for the area. The intent of 2-hour signage is to create frequent turnover, and we have identified that turnover may not be the most important need for this specific area as it is often used for long-term parking by Hellgate students and staff. Holy Spirit Episcopal Church supports this change, and we will continue to engage with other neighbors to determine if the change is appropriate.
Future Engagement
We are looking forward to continuing to engage with the greater Hellgate community to better understand how we can best meet this unique set of needs. At this time, we are accepting comments through this page or via email. We will keep this page updated as future engagement events are scheduled.
Following an initial comment period, our team will post a survey to this page. With this survey, we hope to learn more about perspectives on parking, how, when, and where the parking is being utilized, and what is important to Hellgate community members.
A community meeting/ice cream social will be hosted at Hellgate High School on Wednesday, May 27. This event will be an opportunity for residents, businesses, Hellgate students and staff to engage in interacting with each other and with the Missoula Parking Commission to share ideas, perspectives, and feedback. More details will be posted in late April.
A mapping tool will be posted in late April to gather more specific location information and better understand parking demand.
Our team will be attending the Heart of Missoula general meeting and block party on May 6 from 5:30-7:30pm on Railroad Street to engage with a broader audience.
A City Chats in the Park event is being planned for mid-May, with the primary topic of our Parking Plan, which guides operations for our organization.
Project Background
Parking management of the area around Hellgate High School is part of the Missoula Parking Commission’s greater Hip Strip Expansion project.
On November 17, 2025, the Missoula City Council approved a resolution expanding the Missoula Parking Commission jurisdiction into the Hip Strip. Management began on January 1, 2026 with enforcement of safety violations and existing signage. A full timeline and detailed description of the criteria met for expansion is available on the
Please note that the immediate area around Hellgate High School, from S Higgins Ave to Hilda Ave and from S 6th St E to Daly Ave was included in the Parking Commission's jurisdictional boundary prior to the Hip Strip Expansion project. The project has served as a catalyst to explore parking management options to address issues in the area.
The next steps for this project are to engage more directly with each of the user groups that compete for parking in the area: residents, employees, Hellgate students and staff, and visitors. Each user group has a unique set of needs requiring unique management solutions. These user groups and the associated parking demands are also expected to shift with upcoming development projects in the area.
Provide your input!
I am writing because I am frustrated by the decision to make it even harder for students to park at Hellgate High School. I am in my last year here, and I feel so bad for all the underclassmen who will have to put up with this.
It is unfair that we are expected to pay for parking even though the prices for tickets have gone up. I recently had to pay a $100 ticket; mind you, I have only had four tickets this year at Hellgate. It would be one thing to pay for parking if we actually had a parking lot, but we don’t. This policy feels unfair and out of touch with what students deal with every day. I really have to ask: do you think about the students' perspective at all when making these rules?
I hope you will reconsider these costs and the lack of options we have.
i belive if would just cause people to get more frusturaded and really wont help the parking problem
I am a currently a senior at Hellgate right now. Over my four years here I have experienced great difficulty trying to find parking near my school. I usually park a few blocks from my school. I do not know who this is going to help because I do not think any Missoula local thinks that this is a problem that needs fixing. I think this is especially opposed because the Missoula government cannot seem to spend money on anything that actually helps our locals, so any more money that Missoulians have to pay to the city government is outrageous. You are not allocating funds to help the Missoula residents.
The idea of implementing any form of payed parking around the area that hellgate students use for parking, is morally, ethically and systematically wrong. Students driving to school may seem like a privilege, but when considering, extracurriculars, sports, and the other countless events, activities and opportunities that the students at hellgate participate in, driving becomes essential. Implementing payed parking would create a systemic disadvantage for many students at hellgate, essentially creating a paywall for any student who wishes to participate in after school activities, swell as early morning educational opportunities such as 0 periods.
Dear Parking Commission Members:
I am a teacher at HHS, and I usually walk to work rather than drive. I am lucky to be able to do that, but many students and most staff are not able to forego driving each day for a variety of legitimate reasons.
At the very least, it is unethical to require students to pay money to the city in order to attend public school. That removes the "free" from a free public education, and that is not something any of us should support. If you choose to expand your paid parking district, it is your responsibility to do so without infringing on the right of students to access their public school classes without paying to do so. Parking at every other public school in the city is free for students, and Hellgate students should have the same basic conditions as every other MCPS student in Missoula.
Thanks for your consideration.
We need more parking at Hellgate for students. The amount of tickets I have gotten and had to pay because I am partly in the yellow is not okay. It is preventing me from going to class, because I can't afford a ticket and there's no where to park. -Hellgate Student
I am a student at Hellgate highschool and constantly have to park 2-4 blocks away and end up being late most of the time because I can’t find any parking. If you’re in a rush and park somewhere with a fine or two hour parking limit you then get a ticket for trying to get to school. Not only that but we also then move to take up a lot of residents space and they don’t have enough room to park at their own houses. We need a parking lot to ensure the better education of students and teachers.
As a student at Hellgate High School, I believe that this is an outrageous idea, and it is completely unfair to high school students. If you are choosing to live near a University, High School, and Elementary school, you should have already expected parking to be like this. This is NOT the student's fault. Almost every house or apartment in this district has driveways, alleys, or parking lots for residents to park in. These are our last 4 years of free education, and now the city is trying to make us pay to attend? Big Sky and Sentinel both have free parking lots. Why would it be fair to make Hellgate students pay to park on a public street? Because of Hellgate's great reputation, we have many out-of-district students who attend here. Those students are required to drive because there are no school buses to pick them up. Many of us are broke high school students trying to make money and graduate high school, and now they want us to pay to attend. This is extremely frustrating to all students. I am very disappointed to hear this news, and I truly hope that Missoula makes the right decision.
I've reviewed the Missoula Parking Commission's proposal regarding Hellgate, and one thing stands out: fairness must be at the center of any decision.
If Hellgate students and staff are required to pay for parking, then the same policy should apply to all Missoula high schools. A district-wide issue deserves a district-wide solution. Singling out one school places an unfair financial burden on Hellgate families and employees while creating unequal treatment across the district. Additionally, money raised from the other 2 schools could be used to purchase parking permits for all students and staff.
Hellgate students and staff already contribute tremendously to our community. Any parking policy should be equitable, consistent, and applied uniformly. If payment is necessary, then all high schools should operate under the same rules.
As a student at Hellgate High School, I think that this is an outrageous idea, and it is extremely unfair to high school students. These are our last four years of free education, and now they want us to pay to get to school? Because of Hellgate's great reputation, there are many out-of-district students that attend here. Those kids are forced to drive to school because there are no school buses to pick them up. Almost all of the houses and apartments in this district have driveways, alleys, or parking lots for them to park in. Along with that, if you're choosing to live by a university, high school, or elementary school, residents should have known before moving in that things would be like this. This is NOT the student's fault. Big Sky and Sentinel both have free parking lots. Why would it be fair if we had to pay to park on a public street? Most of us are broke highschool students trying to make money and graduate highschool in order to go to college, and now they want us to pay to attend. This is very disappointing to hear and I truly hope that the city makes the right choice.
I'm a Senior here at Hellgate, and I've been driving to school since 2023. Parking has always been an issue around Hellgate and obviously it's not something that can be instantly fixed. But adding a fee for parking is absolutely not a step in the right direction whatsoever. Even though I am leaving this year and it likely won't affect me, I'm pretty sure I speak for a lot of people when I say that.
Hellgate high school existed before the houses. These people knew there would be parking issues as result of where they chose to build. All the other school students have free parking why should Hellgate students have to pay.!
I am a teacher at Hellgate High School. In your budget, please send money for extra substitutes to Hellgate High School as teachers will be busy trying to find a parking space. I am assuming that we will not have to pay to park on the street, but if so, I am expecting full reimbursement as we will be the ONLY teachers in the district who must pay for parking in order to do their job. This will be against our bargaining agreement. Additionally, please provide home tutors or additional free ubers to those families who cannot afford to pay for parking. Thank you for making sure all teachers and students can get to school and not create additional barriers for us.
I am a student at hellgate. There is already no in parking in the schools boundary. I don't even drive. I just know that when my mom picks me up, it's a free for all just to get out of the school. Let's take big sky for example: The school has FREE parking. The parking lot is huge and parents/students never have a problem parking when visiting the school. It was already a problem that students and parents could not park close to the school and now you're making us pay.?Absolutely insane. The city does not care about the needs of students that attend a school they don't even want to be at in the first place. When my mom wasn't available to give me rides, I had to take the city bus. The city bus in the morning is absolutely packed full of kids. Most students at this school will not be able to drive to school. We are too poor to pay for gas let alone pay for parking. More students are going to be taking the bus and there is already no room whatsoever. I am angry, we already have to walk multiple blocks to get to school.
I am a student at Hellgate High-school and unlike the students at Big Sky and Sentinel we don't have a big parking lot. Their parking lots are free on top of that. People at Hellgate don't have opportunities to park where they need, students often having to walk multiple block to school because or limited spots. That isn't even mentioning the people that live in poverty that go to this school. Making the area pay to park would prevent many kids who can't pay for parking unable to attend school. This could be detrimental to class attendance as well, since some people dont have any other way to get to school without a car. Why should we, just another high-school, be forced to pay money for already limited parking spots, while other schools get free, large lots for parking?
its just stupid, you expect us to hunt and fight for spots just to hit us with tickets that are $60 bucks. Just the other day i got to school 20 minutes early just to be late to class cuz there are not parking spots. Its horrible, the ticket people cut us no slack even though no body but hellgate student have to go to war over a damn parking stop. Its bullshit when i have to spend 200 bucks just so i am not late to class.
How do 1400 people drive 2000 cars? A good portion of the school takes the bus, and another good portion carpools. Don't make us pay for the lack of parking that you, the City Parking Commission, provide...
we need a parking lot. its hard to find parking in the morning it would be easier with a parking lot
It is bad and we need more parking space or a parking lot.
Are we able to partner with MCPS to attain one of the MANY empty MCPS buildings close to the school? Those can be utilized for parking for students. I recognize the board has ideas for these buildings, such as leasing, creating affordable housing, etc. Affordable housing is a need, AND so is parking for students/staff. HHS is the only high school in the district without designated parking for students, AND a high school that includes students from as far as Anaconda who are required to drive to school. The staff parking lot also barely holds enough spots for all staff members, forcing some to park on the street as well.
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