Higgins Ave Multi-Modal Improvements

What are we doing?

Higgins Avenue from Brooks Street to Broadway Street will be reconfigured from four lanes to three, allowing dedicated left-turn lanes, protected bike lanes, intersection improvements, enhanced transit stops, improved sidewalks, and ADA upgrades.

When are we doing it?

Current stage: DESIGN

currently at a 60% level of detail.

expecting to reach 100% design in Summer 2026.

Next Stage: CONSTRUCTION

Start of construction: TBD, potentially Spring 2027

Why are we doing it?

Higgins Avenue is the backbone of downtown Missoula. The community helped shape the Downtown Master Plan in 2009 and the updates in 2019. Through this work, the plan identified a need to change Higgins into a complete, multimodal and safe street. This change would help everyone access downtown safely while also boosting activity along the whole Higgins corridor.

How will this change enhance Downtown Missoula?

SAFETY: reducing the risk of crashes and increasing the level of comfort for all users traveling to and within downtown.

Vehicles turning into driveways, alleys, or side streets have a safe area in the dedicated turn lane that is separated from through traffic to slow down and make a turn. This helps lower the risk of rear-end and high-speed collisions.

Separating the bike facility away from the vehicle travel lanes significantly reduces serious and fatal crashes between cyclists and vehicles on high-volume streets such as Higgins Avenue.

Curb extensions, or “bulb-outs” at key intersections will shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians.

Traffic signal improvements like “Leading Pedestrian Intervals” give people a few seconds to start crossing the street before cars get a green light. This helps drivers see people in the crosswalk sooner. It lowers the chance of crashes between cars and pedestrians.

ACCESS: The ease with which people can reach desired goods, services, activities, and destinations using a variety of transportation modes

Accessibility will be improved by implementing more ways in which people can reach their destination. This means implementing dedicated bike facilities,

Installing curb ramps at crosswalks significantly improves accessibility for individuals with mobility impairments, such as wheelchair users, by providing a seamless and safe transition between sidewalks and roadways.

New Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) will replace the standard pedestrian push buttons at certain intersections. These APS will add non-visual communication tools for users such as audible tones, speech messages, and vibrating surfaces to inform pedestrians when to cross.

MOBILITY: The ease, efficiency, and capability of moving people between destinations.

Higgins Ave, Alder St to Brooks St will have a continuous, separated bike facility – whereas current conditions only exist from Alder St to the south end of Beartracks Bridge.

Implementing the center turn lane will eliminate the current restricted left turning movements for vehicles and allow them a safe area for slowing while allowing through-traffic to continue flowing.

The upgraded traffic signals through Higgins will be coordinated and timed appropriately.

By implementing dedicated bike facilities through the hip strip, cycling activity on the sidewalk should be reduced.

Click here to return to the full Downtown SAM project.