City Council approved Boulevard Avenue project

Havre City Council approved a funding agreement Monday between Havre and the Montana Department of Transportation for the Boulevard Avenue Urban Project.

The project is in Havre and Hill County, beginning at 11th Street West and ending nearly a mile north at the intersection of Boulevard Avenue and Second Street West.

Mayor Tim Solomon said the project will begin in 2020 and will be paid for by the city’s urban highway fund, federal money that comes through MDT to local governments for road improvements.

The project was part of an agreement with MDT, Solomon said.

The original project repaved 11th Street from the front of Montana State University-Northern past Havre Middle School to 16th Avenue West.

Solomon said the Boulevard Avenue project was removed from the original agreement because of insufficient funds.

Due to project funding, he said, planned sidewalks were cut from the project. The city wants to meet with Havre Trails to see if a trail or pathway of some kind can be put in independently from the Department of Transportation’s project.

He added that the sidewalks were cut from the original deal in order to get the road work to be done, adding that the city could apply for grants and attempt to find funding for trails.

The funding agreement says that the cost estimate for all phases of the project is $1,822,000 with available funding $1,937,984.

The council also approved the State of Montana Historic Preservation Office Certified Local Government grant application.

Solomon said that this is a repeat grant, which has to be approved every year, $5,500 this year. This money is spent on a variety of things, Solomon said, such as office supplies and personnel.