Staff recommends the City Council approve the amendment to the 2018 LRTP and forward a recommendation of approval to the Policy Coordinating Committee.

This past year, the City of Billings was awarded a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant. The first step in the process is amending our 2018 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) to reflect our acceptance of this grant. This grant will provide monies to help complete the Inner Belt Loop and Skyline Trail.

To complete this approval at the State level, the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) must amend its LRTP to ensure this project is properly identified in the Plan. A quick reference is attached to this report which provides an overview of the proposed amendments.

The schedule for review and adoption of the plan amendment includes actions by the:

• Technical Advisory Committee
• Yellowstone County Board of Planning
• Board of County Commissioners
• City Council
• Policy Coordinating Committee

The amended LRTP will then be sent to the Montanan Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for review and concurrence.  

City Council may:

• Approve the amendment to the 2018 LRTP and forward a recommendation of approval to the Policy Coordinating Committee, or;
• Disapprove the amendment to the 2018 LRTP and forward a recommendation of disapproval to the Policy Coordinating Committee.  Disapproval will endanger the Federal Highways BUILD Grant award to the City.

 

BUILD Grant Project Allocations

	Federal	Local	Total
Inner Belt Loop	$7,620,385	$7,000,000	$14,620,385
Skyline Trail	$4,036,380	$85,000	$4,121,380
Total	$11,656,765	$7,085,000	$18,741,765

Approval of the 2018 LRTP amendment will be a first step in the local approval process that will allow the City to leverage the BUILD Grant award.