Hurray! Missoula was awarded $59.5 million to complete the Russell Street corridor. Construction will start happening pretty soon now, right? Don’t hold your breath.
When I moved to Missoula in 1978, the then-city fathers were saying construction on the Russell Street corridor was to start the following year. Well, three-plus decades later at least the new Russell Street bridge was completed.
Why hasn’t the rest, Mount to just north of Third, been done? Lack of funds? Not really. The lack of backbone, very possibly. Since my coming to Missoula, no city council person or mayor has been willing to state that some buildings on Russell between Mount and Third will have to be removed to make way for the completion of four lanes as is the rest of Russell both north and south…