ABC Fox Montana: Bozeman receives $24 million toward transportation

The City of Bozeman received a $24 million dollar grant to reconstruct Kagy Boulevard by widening lanes, creating a multi-use path, and improving safety features.

The project will extend from the intersection of W. Kagy and S. 19th Street to S. Willson Avenue.

Nick Ross, the City of Bozeman’s Transportation and Engineering Director, told me the south part of Bozeman is seeing a lot of development pressure.

Kagy Boulevard is also projected to have the greatest demand for road use of any of the city’s capital works projects, and it’s in the worst shape.

“More people are projected to use Kagy boulevard than any other street in our capital program right now. And for folks that are familiar with that site, it’s really not a pretty street. There’s no sidewalks or bike facilities. And, because of all the housing demand, adjacent to the university there, we really saw that it’s critical to get that street brought up to standard”, Ross says.

Funding for the Kagy Boulevard expansion comes from the rural surface transportation grant program, which was created by Senator Jon Tester’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Senator Tester said, “The Bozeman area is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States right now. If infrastructure is going to keep up with the population growth, we need some serious investment. This is a great project. It’s a project that’s much needed and it’s a project that will allow Bozeman to continue to grow in a responsible way.”

The $24,000,000 grant now frees up a significant sum of cash in the city’s budget and allows them to focus on another area of need, college street, at no extra cost to taxpayers.

Ross tells me they aim to start the Kagy project in 2027 or 2028.