Missoula bridge grants unsuccessful, new 2025 plan in works

In 2024 the county applied for both a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program grant and a Bridge Investment Program (BIP) grant, each offering enough money to replace three to five rural bridges that the county is financially responsible for. 

Both of those grant applications were denied, according to Public Works Director Shane Stack. While the applications did well, Stack said they did not receive a high enough recommendation to win the money. 

“Our grants were recommended for approval, but the projects that won were highly recommended, and some of those didn’t get approved either,” Stack told the Missoulian on Monday. Roughly 10% of applications were approved by the federal government, Stack added.

This coming year, the county is planning a new strategy to apply for two separate RAISE grants with the hopes of replacing a dozen bridges, or almost all of the structures in dire need of replacement, Stack said. 

The county will use feedback from the 2024 grant cycle to hopefully have a winning application, Stack said. 

“We refined our application for the process,” Stack told the Missoula Lions Club on Monday, Nov. 18.

Several bridges within the county have been weight-restricted or closed for use. The Boy Scout Bridge in Seeley Lake has been closed since November 2023.

The 2024 RAISE grant would have provided $30 million to replace five bridges, while the 2024 BIP grant would have provided $21 million to replace three bridges.

The new 2025 grant applications, which are expected to be submitted in January, would fund replacements or repairs for nine bridges, including Boy Scout, Sunset, Glacier Creek, Kraft Creek, Cold Creek, Riverview Drive, Arlene, Bench Road and two Styler Drive bridges. 

In April, the county won federal grant dollars to replace the Lolo Street bridge in the Rattlesnake neighborhood.

The project will take at least a few years to complete as engineering designs are approved and environmental assessments are done. The project will need engineering designs complete and environmental assessments approved before construction can begin.

Officials have previously said the county needs state and federal dollars to keep up with bridge replacements in western Montana. One state official told Missoula City Club in February that the state of Montana needs $125 million annually to keep up with the bridge backlog.  

Missoula County has a $600,000 budget reserved for road and bridge projects. Much of that money is reserved for grant application matching funds, Stack said. 

In August the county proposed a 1.7 million levy to bolster its road and bridge department, but ultimately removed the ballot measure to see what changes the Montana state Legislature makes for infrastructure funding.