Staff recommends the Planning Board review the submitted Transportation Alternatives (TA) applications, conduct a public hearing, consider testimony from the public, and recommend funding for the two received TA applications to the PCC.

The Transportation Alternatives Program (TA) is a set-aside program from the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program. Eligible uses of the funds include projects and activities that were previously eligible under the Transportation Alternatives Program under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). This includes a variety of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, recreational trails, Safe Routes to School projects, and other community improvement projects. See the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) TA Instructions for eligible projects. The Billings MPO has been allocated $1,784,111 in Transportation Alternative Funds in 2025.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) allows for MPOs to administer their own competitive application process with approval and oversight from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT).

Projects submitted must meet Federal and State guidelines for eligibility and must identify a local, Federal or State sponsoring agency. Private individuals and organizations may recommend a project if the project is sponsored by the government agency in which the project is located. Examples of a sponsoring agency may include, but are not limited to, City, County, Tribal, etc.

The MPO received two eligible applications for the Transportation Alternatives funds. The applications included:

• City of Billings Safe Routes to School 2025 TA sponsored by the City of Billings
  • Total Project Cost: $1,492,297.23
  • Federal TA Request: $1,292,030.94
  • Local Matching Funds: $200,266.29
  • Since the last time the Planning Board saw this agenda item, this budget has been updated slightly to better match the Indirect Cost Rate and recommended inflation rate. 

 

• Johnson Lane Sidewalk Connector Project sponsored by Yellowstone County via the Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District (LPSD)
  • Total Project Cost: $250,660.00
  • Federal TA Request: $217,021.43
  • Local Matching Funds: $33,638.57

TAC, the body that reviews the applications, requested additional clarification on the cost estimate for the Lockwood project after they first reviewed the applications in May. Erin Claunch, consultant for the Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District, reviewed the costs and made several updates/provided clarification to the cost, including:

• Removed the Indirect Cost Rate from construction and applied it only to preliminary engineering. 
• Changed the preliminary engineering and construction engineering from 35% and 25% of the costs respectively (based on the description in the TA application) to $50,000 for PE and $30,000 for CE. 
• Did not change the raw cost estimate, now shown at $165,000 without the Indirect Cost Rate. Erin noted he modified a typo for the 6" sidewalk (6 feet) from SY to SF. Prior to contingency and inflation, the raw construction cost is $111, 214.15. This comes to approximately $256/LF of sidewalk. In summer 2024, Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District (LPSD) constructed a similar sidewalk project approximately 125 feet in length. This project was built for approximately $28,000, which equates to $224/LF of sidewalk. This project also had to be re-bid multiple times as the LPSD received multiple bids over $50,000. 

Together, these two projects request a total of $1,509,051.37 in federal TA funds, which is less than the $1,784,111 in funds the MPO has available. As a result, if the projects rank high enough, both projects could be funded with the available funding.

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC/Committee) is responsible for evaluating and scoring Transportation Alternatives (TA) applications. The scores from TAC will be translated into a list of recommended projects. While TAC had not met (meeting 6/11/25) by the time this Planning Board memo was due, staff will share the results of the scoring form TAC at the Planning Board meeting. 

The MPO will present the list of the recommended projects to the local governing bodies that make up the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). The PCC is made up of a representative of the Billings City Council, Yellowstone County Commissioners, Billings-Yellowstone County Planning Board, and MDT. Each entity (besides MDT) will review the projects recommended by TAC and can either approve the recommendation and forward to PCC or take a different action and forward that onto PCC. PCC will take into consideration each recommendation, with MDT providing their recommendation at the PCC meeting, and make the final decision on which applications to fund.

The following procedure will be used by the MPO and review Committee for the scoring and selection of TA projects:

1. At the outset of the scoring process, all applicants will be screened for eligibility by the local TA Coordinator. Projects that do not meet the eligibility requirements will be identified and marked as ineligible. Reason(s) for ineligibility will be noted and the applicant informed. The ineligible project will not move forward in the scoring process.
2. Individual members of the Committee will score each application independently prior to the selection committee meetings. Scoring will be based on a total of 100 points, 10 points for Project Description, 45 points for Project Benefits and 45 points for Project Risk Analysis. The TA Coordinator will review the scores and provide an average ranking based on individual scores.
3. The Committee will convene as often as necessary to come to a consensus. Each member can adjust their score based on discussion with the Committee.
4. For each application, all final individual member scores will be added together and averaged to arrive at the final total application score.
5. After being scored, applications will be entered into a ranked list and the Committee will develop the final list of selected projects to recommend to PCC. Recommended projects will be selected up to the amount available to the MPO, less any amount the MPO would like to reserve for project cost increases.
6. After the PCC approves, the MPO TA Coordinator will then share the list of the PCC approved TA projects from the MPO to the MDT TA Program Manager for MDT approval and subsequently Transportation Commission approval. 

TAC discussed these applications during their May TAC meeting. Comments on both projects were favorable, but TAC wanted to postpone a vote on the project recommendations to get clarification on the details of the cost estimate for the Yellowstone County/Lockwood application. At their meeting on June 12, 2025, TAC members voted to recommend both applications for funding. At their May 13, 2025 meeting, the Planning Board held a public hearing on this item, as the public hearing was already scheduled and advertised. No members of the public spoke during the public hearing. During their June 24, 2025 meeting, staff requests that the Planning Board conduct another public hearing to receive comments on the updated applications. 

At their meeting on June 12, 2025, TAC members voted to recommend both project applications for funding. Ultimately, the traveling public within the MPO Urban Area will all benefit from the TA projects as they will add safety and access for many pedestrians, school students and others to safely navigate the transportation corridors in the MPO area.

Planning Board may:

• Forward a recommendation of approval of the Transportation Alternatives grant applications to the PCC
• Not forward a recommendation of approval of the Transportation Alternatives grant applications to the PCC
• Forward an alternate funding option for the applications 

If both applications are approved, $1,509,052.37 in TA funds will be allocated. TA funds are generally for non-motorized transportation projects, so this would be an appropriate use of these funds.

• A $200,266.29 in match for the City of Billings Safe Routes to School 2025 TA project will come from the City's annual Safe Routes to School allocation.
• A $33,638.57 in matching funds for the Johnson Lane Sidewalk Connector Project will come from the Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District's funds.

A total of $275,058 would be left after allocation to these projects, which could be used for future projects or to address project overages.